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Long-delayed plans to upgrade Polis campsite are not going ahead Page 7

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WIN A FAMILY PASS TO THE FASOURI WATERPARK INSIDE Cyprus Suspects in Napa slayings arrested in Greece 3

World Russia and West tussle at Syria peace meeting 9

Property What you should be getting up to in the garden this month 33

Sport Europe’s aristocrats to clash in tasty Kiev final 48

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HISTORIC DAY FOR CYPRUS

Island takes over the EU Presidency Pages 19-30

● A time of unprecedented upheaval ● Can the civil service meet the challenges? ● How do we get Joe Public to care? ● The Curium spectacular and a feast of culture

2 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Home Weather

Nicosia Troodos

35

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32

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32

TODAY: Mostly clear and sunny along the coasts, but thickening afternoon cloud is likely to bring rain inland and over the mountains.

Temperatures will reach 35C inland, 32C in the south and east, 31C in the west and 26C over higher ground OUTLOOK: Becoming more settled from tomorrow, with temperatures set to rise to above the seasonal average

Ban: sides must avoid tensions over gas ‘Wealth from natural resources, which belong to all Cypriots, will benefit both communities’

By Stefanos Evripidou

YESTERDAY

Nicosia Larnaca Limassol Paphos Prodromos

max/min temp 34 - 22 31 - 22 31 - 22 29 - 21 26 - 16

SUNRISE: 05.363am

Humidity 34% 73% 60% 70% 56%

SUNSET: 20.05 pm

Sunday Mail Established 1945. Number 21,268 NICOSIA 24 Vass. Voulgaroctonou, P.O. Box 21144, 1502 Nicosia Tel: 22-818585, Fax: 22-676385 email: mail@cyprus-mail.com LIMASSOL 5A Nicolaou, Pentadromos Centre, Thessaloniki St, Tel: 25-761117, Fax: 25-761141 email: cyprusmail@cytanet.com.cy

THE UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on all sides in Cyprus to “make every effort to avoid raising tensions” over hydrocarbon explorations that could negatively impact on the security situation on or around the island.

According to yesterday’s Cyprus News Agency, the statement was made in a draft report on the operation of UNFICYP, the UN’s peacekeeping force in Cyprus, where Ban recommended the extension of its mandate for a period of six months, until January 19, 2013.

In the draft report, given to members of the Security Council, Ban refers to the tension over the exploration of natural resources in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone, as well as to Turkey’s reaction to the launch of a second round

of licencing for offshore exploration by Cyprus. In his observations, the UN chief calls for restraint, noting: “It is important to ensure that any newfound wealth from natural resources, which belongs to all Cypriots, will benefit both communities.”

“This development constitutes another strong incentive to find a durable solution to the Cyprus problem,” he added.

He called on both sides to agree on a way forward in the talks, noting that the Turkish Cypriot side has indicated it would only continue discussions on matters of substance if there was a binding timeframe culminating in a multilateral conference.

The Greek Cypriot side rejects timeframes and will only go to a multilateral conference once all internal issues have been resolved.

Ban encourages both leaders to “fully embrace the concept and practice

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: report of a more inclusive dialogue which ensures that civil society actors can have a meaningful role in the peace process”.

He expressed his disappointment for the lack of progress in the opening of more crossing points,

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despite the stated readiness by the parties. On the identification of remains of the missing, Ban said a contract is in the process of being finalised for DNA analysis with the genetic laboratory of the International Committee of Missing Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The report is expected to be adopted by the Security Council on July 18, after being briefed by the UNSG’s envoys in Cyprus Lisa Buttenheim and Alexander Downer.

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3 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

CYPRUS TODAY Extradition POLICE ARRESTED a 22-year-old man at the Ayios Dhometios checkpoint late on Friday based on a European arrest warrant in connection with an armed robbery in Romania.

The 22-year-old was attempting to cross from the north when police picked up on the fact that a European arrest warrant was pending against him.

The Romanian man had been convicted in absentia by a Romanian court and sentenced to over two years in prison. Police have informed the Romanian authorities of his arrest so they can begin extradition proceedings.

Cypriot champ CYPRIOT CHAMPION Eleni Artymata was due to compete in the final of the women’s 200 metres at the European Athletics Championships in Finland last night.

Artymata made it past the heats on Friday morning, coming second with a time of 23.35 seconds. She later finished third in the semi-finals, registering 23.21 on the clock, giving her the chance to compete in the finals, due to be held last night.

The Cypriot athlete will compete with Dafne Schippers, Mariya Ryemyen, Viktoriya Pyatachenko, Myriam Soumare, Hrystyna Stuy, Jamile Samuel and Johanna Danois.

Presidency cars THE Pilakoutas group within the context of supporting the Cypriot presidency of the European Union, has loaned 48 BMWs to the state. The cars will cover the government’s transport needs for the entire duration of the presidency.

The cars were delivered during a special event at the company’s showrooms.

A special delegation from BMW Germany flew to Cyprus for the event.

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Suspects in Napa slayings arrested by Greek police Both men are Greek nationals

By Stefanos Evripidou GREEK POLICE yesterday arrested two suspects in Athens, wanted in connection with the murder of five men in a gangland-style execution in the heart of Cyprus’ tourist resort Ayia Napa last week.

The two men, aged 29 and 41, are Greek nationals for whom Cypriot police issued European arrest warrants and an Interpol Red Notice earlier in the week.

Police spokesman Andreas Angelides confirmed that the two men were arrested yesterday morning in the Greek capital by the anti-terror squad.

The fact that both men were wanted in connection with a quintuple murder and could be considered armed and dangerous likely influenced the decision of Greek police to use its anti-terror squad for the arrests.

Angelides told the Sunday Mail that Cypriot investigators were already on their way to Athens to coordinate with their Greek counterparts on procedures for the extradition to Cyprus of the two suspects on the basis of the European arrest warrants issued against them. The police spokesman said the two could be brought to Cyprus in a matter of days.

According to Greek media, the Greek authorities were also conducting a search of their houses yesterday, following their arrest. The news of

The scene of the crime in Ayia Napa on June 23 after five men were killed in their car after leaving the pub their arrest comes one day after Angelides announced that police had requested the help of the Greek authorities to locate the two Greek Pontian men believed to be responsible for the murders.

Warrants for their arrest were issued on Wednesday.

According to reports, the every move of the two men was caught on pubs’ CCTV cameras, linking the two men to the crime.

The CCTV footage showed the two had been in the same area as the shoot-out – on a side street in the heart of Ayia Napa’s nightclub scene, near the popular Red Square Bar – the evening prior to the killings.

The footage also showed the executioner receive a phone call, before heading to the area where he ambushed the victims’ car.

Witnesses on the night said they saw the black BMW being followed by a man on a moped, before it reached the point where it was sprayed with bullets. With the windows open, the five men – three Cypriots aged 28, 33 and 35, and two Romanians aged 25 and 33 – stood no chance. The two state pathologists who dealt with the case said all five died from gunshot wounds to the head and chest.

Fourteen bullet shells from the same gun were found at the scene.

Other CCTV footage showed the man who pulled the trigger change his top as he started to run away from the scene of the shootings. As he fled, his cap fell off, leaving detectives with his DNA. The DNA, in combination with the images, helped police identify the two as internationally-active criminals, said police. Another important piece of evidence was the getaway car, which was reportedly spotted a short distance from the scene of the murders.

Four of the victims worked as security guards for 47year-old Famagusta district businessman, Phanos Kalopsidiotis, who was arrested last Thursday along with six other

people in connection with a massive brawl that took place the Monday after the killings outside a nightclub in the popular resort. It is widely believed that the killings are connected to the war between online betting shop owners.

Police found gloves, a balaclava, bullet proof vests and a computer tower in the victims’ car boot.

Earlier in the week, Angelides said there was a “serious possibility” the Ayia Napa shoot-out was a result of rivalry between Nicosia and Ayia Napa underworld gangs over the mushrooming online casinos, though other avenues are also being investigated, he added.

Police confiscate 13 vehicles in clampdown on boy racers FOUR CARS, seven motorcycles and two quad bikes were confiscated by police during a fourhour campaign to curb boy racers on Griva Digheni Avenue in Nicosia on Friday night.

According to police spokesman Andreas Angelides, following complaints from local residents and authorities, police organised a coordinated operation on the busy avenue in

the capital as part of efforts to reduce road accidents and noise pollution.

Forces from traffic police headquarters, Nicosia traffic police and the rapid response unit MMAD stopped and checked vehicles from 10pm to 2am, recording 94 traffic violations, mainly for speeding and not wearing seatbelts.

Four cars and seven motorcycles were confiscated for not carrying registration plates while two quad bikes were also taken in for not being registered to operate on the road.

Angelides said police receive many complaints about that specific stretch of the road, noting that police will continue their checks “to alleviate the problem”.

4 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

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The truth of a childhood Joyce Grimley had never believed the man who said he was her father, but it was not until she was well into her fifties that she found out her suspicions were correct

By Zoe Christodoulides

T

HEY usually say that it’s always best to trust your instincts. But sometimes, life forces you to push those instincts aside, pretending that what you are almost certain is true is little more than the figment of your imagination.

For 71-year-old Joyce Grimley-Willett, it was these instincts that called out to her during her entire childhood and for many years of her adulthood lasting until she was well into her 50s.

It was only then that she discovered she had been adopted and raised by a man pretending to be her real father.

When she decided to embark on a path that would lead her towards her birth father, Joyce discovered that her story was so full of unexpected twists and turns that she decided to write a book about her experiences.

Entitled Dear Dad, the self published work is soon to appear on local bookshop shelves.

The former head teacher of the Junior School now lives in the Troodos mountains with her husband, but she was born into a working class family in an industrial town in Cheshire. Up until the age of five, Joyce grew up with no father around. One fine day however when Joyce was four, a man in the merchant navy named Leo Steadman came to the family home for a visit and Joyce’s mother suddenly announced: “This is your daddy.”

“Of course at that age you just take things like that for granted,” she explains. But in retrospect, even at that tender age, something just didn’t feel right for Joyce.

“My mother obviously bore the shame of being a single parent for the first years of my life and just wanted everything to be as normal when she then married my stepfather who took on the

role of my real dad.” As the years went by, her mum gave birth to another three girls and one boy with Leo. Things went on as normal but odd and minor comments from random family members throughout the years pointed towards the fact that Leo wasn’t her real dad. And for Joyce, there was something in her gut that knew the truth.

“I’d call him dad and he treated me lovingly and caringly. I didn’t want to appear ungrateful,” she recalls.

“I know this might sound a bit strange but as I grew up I just felt that he wasn’t really my equal intellectually. I couldn’t really have a conversation with him in the way I wanted to. It’s just that something was missing,” she says.

At the age of eleven, an important document almost brought reality to light.

“When I was eleven I went snooping around the house and found papers which stated that I’d been adopt-

ed,” she recalls. “I didn’t dare confront my dad because I knew I shouldn’t have been snooping, but I did ask my mum about what I’d found.

But she always just brushed me off saying things like ‘oh don’t worry about it’ without really answering with any ‘yes’ or ‘no’. So in the end I just tried to put it to the back on my mind and carried on as normal.”

Having an innate desire to succeed, she gained a scholarship to a grammar school at age ten, and despite family pressure to leave school at sixteen, she persevered and attended teacher training college in Scarborough, Yorkshire.

When she was 20, Joyce was filled with an insatiable travel bug and had to fill in all the appropriate paperwork to get a passport. This of course meant a copy of her birth certificate. “I thought that would be the real test, but my mum somehow got round that one and sent out for the shortened version,” she says.

As Joyce began to travel, questions about her real father and identity were once again shelved. Various teaching posts in different countries followed, and Joyce ended up in Cyprus as teacher and then headmistress at the Junior School in

Joyce’s mother kept a promise to her husband not to let Joyce know about her real father until after he died Nicosia. But the day finally came when the truth was soon to reveal itself.

“I got a phone call to say that Leo had died and so went back to England for the funeral,” she explains.

“And after the funeral when all the guests had left I was just sitting with my sisters and mum when she suddenly blurted out the name of my real dad: William Hudson.”

Joyce was stunned. She was then told that her mum

never really loved her father and never wanted to marry him and therefore decided to raise Joyce alone until Leo came along.

Her natural reaction was to seriously question why she had never been told the truth before. “It then come out that my stepdad had made my mum promise she would never tell me about my real dad,” she explains.

Joyce becomes emotional as her eyes water. “I’m sorry, you know it just all churns

ELECTRICITY AUTHORITY OF CYPRUS Interruption of Supply The Electricity Authority of Cyprus announces that electricity supply will be interrupted between 8:00 to 14:00 on Tuesday 3rd of July 2012 in the following areas: Lythrodontas, Mathiatis (part of) SINCE IT IS NOT CERTAIN THAT THE ELECTRICITY SUPPLY WILL BE INTERRUPTED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE OF THE PERIOD STATED, INSTALLATIONS IN ALL PREMISES MUST BE REGARDED AS BEING “ALIVE” DURING THESE HOURS. We regret any inconvenience which may be caused by the interruption of supply, but this is necessary due to work on the high voltage system.

ELECTRICITY AUTHORITY OF CYPRUS Interruption of Supply The Electricity Authority of Cyprus announces that electricity supply will be interrupted between 8:00 to 11:00 on Tuesday 3rd of July 2012 in the following areas: Ayia Varvara (part of), Mathiatis (part of) SINCE IT IS NOT CERTAIN THAT THE ELECTRICITY SUPPLY WILL BE INTERRUPTED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE OF THE PERIOD STATED, INSTALLATIONS IN ALL PREMISES MUST BE REGARDED AS BEING “ALIVE” DURING THESE HOURS. We regret any inconvenience which may be caused by the interruption of supply, but this is necessary due to work on the high voltage system.

5 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

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instinct up again and I get a bit shaky.

“The thing is that I knew it, I knew it all along. And I felt like I’d been totally duped, hoodwinked for most of my life.

The worst thing is that all my cousins and relatives all knew about it,” Joyce explains.

After the initial shock wore off, the search began. But the only information Joyce had to go on initially was that her father had a sister named Ella. “But of course she got married and took on a new name so obviously I couldn’t find her.”

With hardly a trace of information about the whereabouts of her real dad, the search went on for years until perseverance finally paid off. The rather remarkable and almost unbelievable story all comes to life in the most animated fashion in the pages of her book.

It was her friends and family who convinced her to the put the story down in words. And the process was one that was more cathartic than she had ever imagined.

“It was such a relief to have peace of mind and know where I’m from,” she says. “I felt a bit like a freak before, with that nagging thought always wondering - who is he?”

Part of the reason for writing the book she says was to encourage readers who

are in a similar situation, to persevere with their search no matter how impossible it may seem.

“For those people who never knew one or both of their birth parents, it’s a necessity to search out the truth so that they can have peace,” she says resolutely. “I’ll tell people to search and search and find out because they won’t have mental peace if they don’t.”

Dear Dad will be officially launched in Cyprus in September and available at local bookshops. The launch will be announced closer to the date. The book is also available online on Amazon

Two remanded in theft case Joyce with her book about the search for her real father

A COUPLE was remanded in custody for five days yesterday by the Nicosia District Court in connection with a series of burglaries and thefts in the capital.

According to police spokesman Andreas Angelides, acting on a tipoff police stopped and searched a car driven by a 31-year-old man who had as his co-passenger a 22-yearold woman, both from Nicosia, on Friday.

During a search of the car, police found a number of gold and silver items as well as electronic devices. The two were subsequently held in detention while further investigation revealed that a number of items found in the car were allegedly stolen from two houses on June 9 and 27.

During questioning, the 31-year-old maintained that some of the items found in the car belong to him, though he could not give any explanation for the remaining items.

Angelides said the value of goods stolen on June 9 comes to €3,400 while €2,000 worth of items was stolen on June 27.

Police have contacted the victims of break-ins and thefts in an effort to identify the items found in the car while the force is also looking into whether the two alleged robbers also worked beyond the Nicosia district.

6 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

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Protaras sea clean up Divers declare war on discarded tyres

A sample of the tyres retrieved from the sea bed (top left). The divers at work (above) Under water photos by Andreas Kazamias

By Natalie Hami USED tyres of varying sizes, plastic bags and tin cans were just some of the rubbish found at the bottom of the ocean at Malama beach near Protaras during last week’s clean-up of the seabed.

Around 20-30 divers, who are part of the CyTA employees’ welfare fund (TEY-ATHK), gathered in two groups to delve to the bottom of the sea and clear the rubbish last Sunday morning.

“This is not the first time they’ve dived there. The first time they removed 180 tyres, the second around 120 and this time around ten,” said Environment Commissioner Charalambos Theopemptou.

According to Theopemptou, the majority of used tyres were simply discarded there by the truck load, but some fall off the side of boats. “There are boat owners that hang a tyre off the side of their boat so as to lessen the impact when they hit concrete and these fall off sometimes or they just throw them into the sea,” said Theopemptou.

He said two of the dumped tyres

Some of the volunteers who took part in the cleaning up were so big they needed equipment to drag them out and four people to carry each one.

Tyres dumped in the sea could potentially emit chemicals harming or even killing the sea’s organisms.

The divers also had a net with them to gather up other bits and pieces.

Questioned as to whether more beach clean-ups would be organised in other areas, Theopemptou said that it was a matter of identifying where there was rubbish.

“It’s difficult to get people to just go there without knowing what’s in the water,” he said, adding that the public has to let them know where the rubbish is.

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7 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

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Polis campsite upgrade delayed Ageing facilities need major improvements

By Bejay Browne THE long-delayed plans to upgrade the popular campsite at Polis will not now take place until the end of the year, the town’s mayor said this week.

The campsite which has the capacity for around 200 tents and is set in a small forest of eucalyptus trees is popular with young campers in particular, but the campsite facilities are now 30 years old and are in urgent need of upgrading.

The mayor of Polis Chrysochous, Angelos Georgiou, said the delays have been caused partly by the Cyprus Tourism Organisation and partly by the refusal of the present manager of the campsite to leave even though his lease has expired.

“The municipality decided to proceed with the tender process to secure a strategic investor. This process is now underway, following the assignment of a law firm to prepare the tender documents,” he said.

The site is owned by the Department of Forestry and has been leased to the municipality for a period of 15 years, with an option to renew for a further two periods.

According to the mayor, a master plan for the area has been drawn up - a collaboration between the CTO, the Forestry Department and the municipality - which will undertake the management of space.

The site is currently being managed on a temporary basis by the previous manager,

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The proposed master plan includes significant upgrades to the camping area, according to the mayor. These include toilets and showers and other buildings, as well as creating roads and upgrading water and electricity supplies.

“We will also determine the areas which will accommodate campers and tents, create a playground, solve the problem of water that flows through the area and upgrade and enhance green areas,” Georgiou said.

The local council is eager to see the upgrading work get underway as according to the mayor, the camping area has played an important role in terms of tourism development in Polis.

“Our camping site has become a favourite destination, hosting both locals and foreigners, especially people who love the environment and quiet holidays,” he said.

The mayor pointed out that when the camping site was created three decades ago, its facilities were considered satisfactory.

“Now requirements have changed and it’s necessary to upgrade and improve - with a proper infrastructure.”

The renovation of the site’s facilities will be welcomed by visitors to the camping area, who have long been complaining about the lack of proper amenities.

One such camper is Stella Kyriakidou, a Nicosia resident who frequents the camp each summer.

“I have been coming to Polis camping for

Polis campsite is particularly popular with younger campers and families who hope the planned upgrade won’t spoil the area’s natural beauty many years and am always sad to see that each time I visit nothing has been done to improve the place. The toilets and bathroom blocks need to be redone and more toilets added, as during peak times, such as in August, they are filthy, disgusting and overflowing.”

She pointed out that the area is often blighted by swarms of mosquitoes attracted by the streams and water at the site.

“Along with the mosquitoes, there needs to be education of campers, particularly the younger Cypriots, who play loud music until 5am in the morning.”

Fellow camper Dave Ryan agreed the facili-

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“Polis campsite really is in the heart of nature and I sincerely hope that ‘upgrading’ work here will not mean the usual chopping down of trees and laying of concrete,” he said. “Any work to improve the area must be carried out with the greatest of sensitivity.”

The mayor stressed that the upgrading of the campsite is one of the main priorities of the municipality as it plays an important role in tourism development and in the promotion of Polis as a tourist destination.

“Camping is an alternative form of tourism that I think has great potential.”

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8 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

World At least 34 injured in China quake

Britain orders bank review

AT least 34 people were injured when a strong earthquake jolted China’s far-western frontier early yesterday, shaking buildings and cutting off electricity in the remote mountainous area.

The US Geological Survey measured the quake, which hit the Xinjiang region, at magnitude 6.3, while China’s Earthquake Networks Centre put it at 6.6.

China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported no deaths, but said 34 people were injured.

The quake also triggered landslides, one of which hit a national highway, trapping 120 people, Xinhua said.

Residents near the epicentre were shaken out of bed in pre-dawn darkness and some households lost electricity, Xinhua reported.

The quake toppled several buildings 300km to the west in the regional capital, Urumqi, Xinhua said, adding that rescuers had been dispatched to the sparsely populated area to search for casualties.

An official from the Xinjiang Earthquake Bureau said the quake was “strongly felt” in Urumqi. He said residents rushed into the streets when the quake hit but returned home after 6am.

THE British government has ordered an independent review into the workings of key lending rates between banks, after Barclays was found guilty of rigging them, a spokeswoman for Britain’s Prime Minister said yesterday.

The decision follows news that US and British authorities fined Barclays $450 million for manipulating the London Interbank Offer Rate (Libor), the interest rate on loans that banks make to each other.

More banks are expected to be drawn into the scandal, which has fuelled public outrage at the culture and practices of the banking industry and prompted calls from lawmakers across the political spectrum for an inquiry.

The government plans a short, urgent review that would allow it to amend the Financial Services Bill currently going through parliament, the Prime Minister’s spokeswoman said. The review will examine Libor and the possibility of criminal sanctions.

When asked about a full public inquiry, Prime Minister David Cameron referred to a series of inquiries that had already taken place.

“Let’s take our time, think this through carefully...Let’s get this right,” he told BBC television.

A public inquiry would be a risky step for a government already under fire after a string of embarrassing revelations in a year of public hearings following last year’s phonehacking scandal.

The American boss of Barclays, Bob Diamond, has been summoned to appear before British lawmakers on Wednesday July 4 to answer questions about the scandal.

On his last appearance before a parliamentary committee last year Diamond said it was time for bankers to stop apologising. He is now under intense pressure to quit the bank, where he ran the investment banking arm Barclays Capital when the interest rate rigging occurred in 2005-2009.

“Parliament and the public need to know what went wrong and whether the perpetrators have been rooted out,” said Andrew Tyrie, head of Parliament’s Treasury Select Committee, which will be questioning Diamond.

Militiamen from the Ansar Dine Islamic group, ride on a vehicle at Kidal in north-eastern Mali, June 16, 2012

(AFP)

Mali Islamists destroy sacred Timbuktu sites

By Adama Diarra AL Qaeda-linked Mali Islamists armed with Kalashnikovs and pick-axes began destroying prized mausoleums of saints in the UNESCO-listed northern city of Timbuktu yesterday in front of shocked locals, witnesses said.

The Islamist Ansar Dine group backs strict sharia, Islamic law, and considers the shrines of the local Sufi ver-

Attacks come days after UNESCO danger warning sion of Islam idolatrous. Sufi shrines have also been attacked by hardline Salafists in Egypt and Libya in the past year.

The attack came just days after UNESCO placed Timbuktu on its list of heritage sites in danger and will recall

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the 2001 dynamiting by the Taliban of two 6th-century statues of Buddha carved into a cliff in Bamiyan in central Afghanistan.

“They have already completely destroyed the mausoleum of Sidi Mahmoud (Ben Amar) and two others. They said they would continue all day and destroy all 16,” local Malian journalist Yeya Tandina said by telephone of the 16 most prized resting grounds of local saints in the town.

“They are armed and have surrounded the sites with pick-up trucks. The population is just looking on helplessly,” he said, adding that the Islamists were currently taking pick-axes to the mausoleum of Sidi El Mokhtar, another cherished local saint.

Ansar Dine has gained the upper hand over less wellarmed Tuareg-led separatists since the two joined forces to rout government troops and seize control in April of the northern two-thirds of the West African state.

“The mausoleum doesn’t exist any more and the cemetery is as bare as a soccer pitch,” local teacher Abdoulaye Boulahi said of the Mahmoud burial place.

“There’s about 30 of them breaking everything up with pick-axes and hoes. They’ve

put their Kalashnikovs down by their side. These are shocking scenes for the people in Timbuktu.”

Local Timbuktu member of parliament Sandy Haidara also confirmed the attacks were taking place, adding: “It looks as if it is a direct reaction to the UNESCO decision.”

Located on an old Saharan trading route that saw salt from the Arab north exchanged for gold and slaves from black Africa to the south, Timbuktu blossomed in a 16th-century Golden Age as an Islamic seat of learning, home to priests, scribes and jurists.

Mali had in recent years sought to create a desert tourism industry around Timbuktu but even before April’s rebellion many tourists were being discouraged by a spate of kidnappings of Westerners in the region claimed by al Qaeda-linked groups.

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee said this week it had accepted the request of the Malian government to place Timbuktu on its list of endangered heritage sites.

“The Committee ... also asked Mali’s neighbours to do all in their power to prevent the trafficking in cultural objects from these sites,” it said of the risk of looting.

The rebel seizure of the north came as the remote southern capital, Bamako, was struggling with the aftermath of a March 22 coup.

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A SALVADOR Dali painting stolen last week from a New York City gallery was mailed back in pristine condition, police said on Friday.

Glimmers of hope had been raised earlier this week when the gallery received a brief email message by an unknown person, saying the 1949 ink and watercolour Cartel de Don Juan Tenirio is “on its way back to you already”, police said.

The package was mailed from a location in Europe, and bore a fake sender name and address, according to Deputy New York Police Commissioner John McCarthy.

A spokesman for the gallery, which opened just this year on Manhattan’s fashionable Upper East Side, declined to comment.

A second police source speculated that publicity surrounding the theft had complicated efforts to sell the painting on the black market.

Police detectives, including the department’s in-house art expert, Detective Mark K. Fishstein, took possession of the painting from postal inspectors at John F. Kennedy

International Airport when it arrived in New York on Thursday.

It was returned on Friday to the gallery, where it is being authenticated, McCarthy said.

Last week, a man visiting the gallery removed the painting from a gallery wall, placed it in a shopping bag and walked out of the building.

Fishstein, the Brooklyn-born son of two antiques dealers, became the department’s “art cop” in 2003 after he caught the attention of his superiors as a young patrol officer, McCarthy said.

Fishstein had been called to the apartment of an Upper East Side woman who had been found dead. His sergeant had just finished an inventory of the apartment’s valuables when Fishstein suggested police secure the painting on the wall.

“Why?” his sergeant asked.

“It’s an original Picasso,” Fishstein replied.

In 2008, Fishstein arrested a couple who had stolen a $100,000 Andy Warhol print of Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong from a frame store.

9 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

World

Mursi promises ‘new Egypt’ as he takes oath of office

Russia and West tussle at Syria peace meeting

ISLAMIST Mohamed Mursi promised a “new Egypt” as he took the oath of office yesterday to become the country’s first freely elected president, succeeding Hosni Mubarak who was ousted 16 months ago.

At his inauguration before the Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo, the 60-year-old also became the Arab world’s first freely elected Islamist president and Egypt’s fifth head of state since the overthrow of the monarchy some 60 years ago.

He took the oath before 18 black-robed judges in the Nile-side courthouse built to resemble an ancient Egyptian temple.

“We aspire to a better tomorrow, a new Egypt and a second republic,” Mursi said during a solemn ceremony shown live on state television.

“Today, the Egyptian people laid the foundation of a new life - absolute freedom, a genuine democracy and stability,” said Mursi, a US-trained engineer from the Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamentalist group that has spent most of the 84 years since its inception as an outlawed organisation harshly targeted by successive governments.

Hundreds of soldiers and policemen guarded the building as Mursi arrived shortly after 11am local time (0900 GMT) in a small motorcade.

Several hundred supporters gathered outside the court to cheer the new president.

In a departure from the presidential pomp of the Mubarak years, traffic was only briefly halted to allow

Fate of President Bashar al Assad critical

his motorcade through on the usually busy road linking the city centre with its southern suburbs.

Mursi’s inauguration signals a personal triumph.

He was not the Brotherhood’s first choice as president, and was thrown into the presidential race when the group’s original candidate, chief strategist and financier Khairat el-Shater, was disqualified over a Mubarak-era criminal conviction.

Derided as the Brotherhood’s uncharismatic “spare tyre”, his personal prestige has surged since his victory and a speech on Friday which tried to present him as a candidate not just of Islamists, but of all those who want to complete the work of the 2011 uprising against the authoritarian Mubarak.

“Egypt today is a civil, national, constitutional and modern state,” Mursi, wearing a blue business suit and red tie, told the judges in the wood-panelled chamber where he took the oath of office. “It is a strong nation because of its people and the beliefs of its sons and its institutions.”

Mursi later travelled to Cairo University where he was to make his inauguration address.

He was given an official welcome by an army band that played the national anthem as he stood to attention. Military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi was in attendance.

His arrival was greeted with chants of “The army and the people are one hand” from the hundreds gathered in the university’s main lecture room.

Millions without power in mid-Atlantic MORE than two million people were without power in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region yesterday from hurricane-force winds that ripped through the area overnight.

Restoring power in storm-damaged parts of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia is expected to take as long as five days even as the region grapples with a record-breaking heat wave.

At least one person was killed by the storm.

Repairing damage “is a monumental task. This is something that is going to take days, not hours,” said Ed McDonough, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Emergency Management.

A line of powerful thunderstorms with winds of more than 80 mph (128 kph) and heavy rain accompanied by intense lightning tore through the area late on Friday, downing trees and power lines.

About 800,000 customers in Maryland were without power yesterday. Every county in the state had reported outages, McDonough said.

Karl Neddenien, a spokesman for Dominion Virginia Power, said 700,000 customers were without electricity because of “catastrophic damage” in central and northern Virginia.

In West Virginia, Governor Ray Tomblin declared a statewide emergency. A spokesman for the state’s emergency management office said about 672,000 people were without power.

By Stephanie Nebehay and Emma Farge RUSSIA and Western powers locked horns over a peace plan for Syria yesterday as U.N. mediator Kofi Annan warned the conflict could spread across the Middle East and beyond.

Foreign ministers and international diplomats were meeting in Geneva with governments still in dispute over whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, condemned in the West but still backed by Russia, could have any role in a political transition.

“The Russians have set out a series of objections with the current draft. The Russians are stonewalling quite a bit,” a Western diplomat said as the talks paused for lunch.

“A redraft of the text is looking likely,” she added, referring to Annan’s draft proposal.

Ex UN chief and special international envoy on Syria An-

Annan yesterday warned the Syrian conflict could spread across the Middle East and beyond (AFP) nan is hoping for consensus on a plan for a unity government excluding controversial figures from leadership - effectively meaning Assad would step down.

“We are here to agree on guidelines and principles for a Syrian-led political transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people,” he said in opening remarks.

“No one should be in any doubt as to the extreme dangers posed by the conflict - to Syrians, to the region, and to

Cyprus Handicrafts

the world.”

His appeal gave a note of urgency to the need for world powers to move closer in their positions as the 16-month-old conflict in Syria deepens. His plan for a negotiated solution is the only one on the table.

Moscow objects to any solution imposed on Syria from outside. The United States and its European and Arab allies see no way ahead while power remains in Assad’s hands.

As the diplomats gathered at

the UN complex by the shores of Lake Geneva, the Syrian army rained mortar fire on pro-opposition areas in Deir al-Zor, Homs, Idlib and the outskirts of Damascus, opposition activists said.

Government troops were fighting rebels of the Free Syria Army in several places. Syria’s border with Turkey was also tense following a Turkish military build-up in response to Syria’s shooting down of a Turkish warplane last week.

More than 10,000 people have been killed since the antiAssad uprising broke out and the past few weeks have been among the bloodiest.

Annan said the crisis should never have reached this point.

“Either unite to secure your common interests or divide and surely fail in your own individual way. Without your unity, your common resolve and your action now ... nobody can win and everyone will lose in some way,” he said.

The mood of pessimism was reinforced by a senior US official who said the talks might not reach a deal.

“Discussions remain challenging,” the official said.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Assad and his close associates could not lead any transition. Accountability for war crimes must be part of such a process, he added in his speech to the meeting.

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10 July 1 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL Jul

World Fast-food chain’s largest ever restaurant will be 75 per cent reuseable

By Helen William

M

CDONALD’S has super-sized itself for the London 2012 Games. The fast food chain’s flagship two-storey restaurant in the Olympic Park, one of four in London for the 2012 Games, is 3,000 square metres in size.

With a bird’s-eye view over the nearby Olympic Stadium, the scale of the workload triggered by key events is also set to be the biggest for McDonald’s.

August 3, when the athletics plus aquatics competitions are already under way, has been earmarked as the busiest day.

After three years spent on planning, it is also set to be the world’s first sustainable restaurant created so that 75 per cent of it can be reused or recyclable after the Games, according to McDonald’s.

Derek Rogers, the McDonald’s Olympic programme manager at the Park, said: “There are a third more tickets sold in London than Beijing 2008 so we are expecting it will be busier.”

Customers may find themselves directed to an express lane where a member of staff, wielding a handheld controller, will take orders that flash up on newly-installed television screens in the kitchen and are on their way by the time they are at the collect actless point. There is contactless payment. onald’s’ Richard Forte, McDonald’s’ chief operations officer for the UK, said: “At our busiest ting to period we are expecting tomers serve around 1,200 customers an hour at the front counter and across the expresss lanes, 40 per cent of which we are ugh the expecting to go through express lanes. e burnTo try and avoid the me durout, suffered by some s, the ing the Beijing Games, rew 2,000 hand-picked crew for London 2012 will th work six-hour shifts with e a 45 minute break. The y shifts are normally y eight hours long. They n also have their own llwashrooms and chillmout area including computers. k They are set to work nine to 14 days.

“Dealing with the he burn-out is one of the nt things that we learnt

from Beijing,” Rogers said.

There will be about 500 staff crews with 200 on shift at a time.

Furniture, fixtures and fittings, which have each already been given a special code, will be broken down and reused at some of the 15 McDonald’s nationwide due to open in the next year.

It falls in with London 2012’s hope of trying to make it the greenest Games ever.

McDonald’s will be open for 29 days during the Olympics and Paralympics and will serve 1.75 million meals.

The Official Restaurant of the Olympic Games will have four Olympic Park sites in London - two for the public plus one in the Athletes’ Village and another in the international Media and Press Centre.

A smaller-scale mock-up of the venue has been built in a warehouse in Chicago where McDonald’s staff and real customers have been looking at potential problems such as arrival rates and the speed of delivery in the kitchen.

Forte said: “Every piece of technology kit in here has been set up in a room and running.

“It did not come out of a box and put on the front counter, which is what we would normally do, because we can not run the risk of doing that.

“It came out of a box in March, was set up as a system for all that time to ensure that any faults from manufacture have been ironed out.

The software that the system runs on has been thoroughly tested.”

On-site testing two weeks before the Games begin will put the venues and staff, through their paces before they open for business on July 28.

McDonald’s super sizes for Olympics

Fast-food with a view: the t new McDonald’s is in keeping with the Games’ intention to be the greenest ever McDona McDonald’s link to the Olb ympics began in 1968, when comp the company airlifted hamburgers to US athletes in Grenoble, France, after they repor reported being homesick fo McDonald’s food. for Criticism of McDonald’s sponsors ship of the Olympics is ongoing.

L Last week the Londo Assembly urged don the Olympic moveme ment to adopt strict crit criteria for sponsorship of the Games which wou would exclude compani panies associated with prod products linked to childhood obesity.

Ass Assembly member

Jenny Jones said: “London won the right to host the 2012 Games with the promise to deliver a legacy of more active, healthier children across the world.

“Yet the same International Olympic Committee that awarded the Games to London persists in maintaining sponsorship deals with the purveyors of high calorie junk that contributes to the threat of an obesity epidemic.

“The advertising of foods high in fat, salt and sugar is already restricted on children’s television. These Games will subvert those regulations by providing a glut of sponsored messages for high calorie food and drink that are at

odds with the Olympian athletic ideal.”

A McDonald’s spokesman said: “There are McDonald’s and other food choices.

“Athletes, coming from around the world, are used to seeing McDonald’s - it is very familiar to them. They know their bodies very well and they fit us to within that diet.

“When you look at the broad spectrum of people who come in to McDonald’s, I do not think it is surprising.

“We have increased the choice on our menu, reduced the fat content of our food, providing more nutrition information and we are committed to continue to do that.”

London’s first cable car lifts off before Games role

By Li-mei Hoang LONDON’S first cable car service opened its doors to the public on Thursday, a spectacular ride high across the River Thames near the Olympic Park which will help visitors to the Games avoid any jams on the ground.

Called the Emirates Air Line, it soars almost 300ft above the river, offering 360-degree views of the east of the capital including the O2 concert Arena and the Canary Wharf financial district.

It opens in time for the Olympics and will help serve three venues south of the river as well as provide a link to the Olympic Park on its north side.

Passengers can embark at North Greenwich, where the O2 concert arena is based, which will be known as the North Greenwich Arena during the Games, and where artistic and trampoline gymnastics will be held as well as some basketball games.

Nearby Greenwich Park will host equestrian events.

North of the river lies the ExCel Centre where a host of sporting events will take place including fencing, wrestling, table tennis, boxing, judo, taekwondo and weightlifting.

The Olympic Park is then a short journey away.

“I think that this will now become one of the great sights of London,” said Mayor Boris

Johnson. “It will be something that people want to come and see, take their children up and it’s the most incredible way of viewing the city.”

The 45-million-pound crossing forms part of Johnson’s plans to help revive the neighbouring areas by creating jobs and stimulating growth.

“This is a developing area of London, this will help this area of London develop faster,” Transport for London (TfL) Commissioner Peter Hendy said.

His comments follow criticism from Johnson’s opponents, who have questioned how much the taxpayer will have to contribute to the cost of the project and whether London commuters will

actually use it once the Games are over.

“I think that people have got to bear in mind that the build cost of this cable car is 45 million pounds, of that 36 million pounds has been contributed by Emirates Airline, who are sponsoring it,” Johnson said.

The cable cars have the capacity to carry up to 2,500 people per hour in each direction - the equivalent to 30 buses – and take five minutes to cross the river.

The stretch of Thames is currently served by road tunnels, but no bridges.

A cash single fare costs 4.30 pounds while those using London’s popular “Oyster” travel cards pay 3.20 pounds.

Flying high: one of the carriages over the O2 arena

11 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

World

Playmates apply for the US ‘Genius’ visa O-1 visa granted to individuals of ‘extraordinary ability’ SHERA Bechard, the Canadian-born former girlfriend of Playboy Enterprises founder Hugh Hefner, would not be an obvious candidate for the special visas that the US government reserves for “individuals with extraordinary ability.”

Playboy magazine named Bechard Miss November in 2010, and she also started an online photo-sharing craze called “Frisky Friday.” Neither seems quite on the level of an “internationally recognised award, such as a Nobel Prize,” which the government cites as a possible qualification.

But Los Angeles immigration lawyer Chris Wright argued that Bechard’s accomplishments earned her a slot. The government ultimately agreed. That kind of success has put Wright on the map as the go-to visa fixer for both Hollywood and Silicon Valley. It also highlights the use of so-called genius visas known as O-1s and EB-1s, which have largely escaped political controversy and are now the immigration solution of choice for many entrepreneurs.

As many immigration lawyers see it, the paucity of immigration options for the most entrepreneurial foreigners mean they must use any avenue they can. This approach, along with seeming flexibility in Washington on what constitutes “extraordinary ability,” means the O-1 is gaining traction in technology circles. Wider use could ul-

timately land it in political trouble.

For example, the H-1B visa, which allows employers to hire foreigners temporarily in certain specialised fields like technology, has drawn accusations from union groups and others that companies use it to bring in lowerskilled labor.

The O-1 visa allows individuals of “extraordinary ability” to come to the United States for up to three years, and can be extended. British journalist Piers Morgan used one when he replaced Larry King on his late-night TV show, Wright said.

There is also no cap on the number of O-1s that the government can award each year; about 12,280 were approved in 2011, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said, up from 9,478 in 2006. It issued about 25,000 EB-1s last year, below their cap of 40,000.

While high-profile artists and entertainers have long used the O-1s, they are now becoming a fallback for businessmen and technologists who cannot get H1-Bs. Wright, himself a South African immigrant, dismisses the notion that some of his clients might not rise to the level of “extraordinary ability.”

“There’s nothing in those regulations that requires you to be a genius,” he says. “It’s quite condescending to say, ‘Oh, the idiot Playboy Playmates, they don’t qualify.’” At the end of 2010, Be-

chard posted the first “Frisky Friday” photo on the Twitter microblogging service. Now young women all over the world tweet scantily-clad pictures of themselves on Fridays, with Playboy selecting a weekly winner.

Immigration officials “want to give (a visa) to someone who shows business skills,” Bechard says. She also threw in such qualifications as her role as a mute Russian in a 2009 movie, Sweet Karma, which won her a best actress award at the cult Fantastic Film Festival in Austin, Texas.

Many of Wright’s young technology clients have had limited time to show they have “risen to the very top of the field of endeavour,” as O-1 regulations state.

“The O-1 is one of the few visas we support,” said Kim Berry, a spokesman for the Programmers Guild, which favors the suspension of the H-1B program. “When they need to bring in the best and the brightest and the entrepreneurs, that’s the only visa that helps America.”

British-born Scott Allison, co-founder of a software company called Teamly, was returning to the United States earlier this month and enjoyed a rare welcome from customs officials after they caught a glimpse of his new O-1 visa.“’Wow, you must be really awesome,’” he recalls one commenting before waving him through.

Shera Bechard: not an obvious candidate for the visa

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12 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Opinion

A big challenge for a small young state TODAY is a historic day for the Republic of Cyprus as it takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. It is a big challenge for a small, young state that lacks administrative capacities and experience and has always been accustomed to doing things at a leisurely pace. Will our under-worked civil servants be able to cope with the exacting demands of the presidency which involves a punishing work schedule as well as the need for detailed planning and organisation?

Much time and effort has been devoted to training civil servants for the presidency, with regard to chairing meetings, having an understanding of EU issues in all fields and taking quick decisions.

It was a steep learning curve for Cypriot civil servants and those in the know are confident that they are up to speed and raring to go. Commendably, they have all agreed to work the long hours expected of them without overtime pay, thus underlining their com-

mitment to making our presidency a success.

Over the next six months, Cyprus’ presidency will chair more than 60 ministerial meetings, two meetings of prime ministers and 1,500 working groups in Brussels.

Cyprus’ distance from the continent has made a Brussels-based presidency an imperative although there would still be some 45,000 visitors to the island which will host close to 300 meetings. There will be 15 informal ministerial meetings, 180 meetings of working groups and about 100 meetings of NGOs and interest groups under the auspices of the presidency.

This explains why the main roads of the capital have been re-surfaced and re-painted.

The biggest target of this presidency would be the conclusion of the EU budget for 2014-2020, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework. There is a touch of irony in one of the most fiscally undisciplined governments of the EU, which applied for a bailout,

Cyprus Mail

being in charge of the budget.

However, President Christofias will not have much to do with this aspect of the presidency, the responsibility for bashing the details out with the European Parliament being with deputy minister and head of the presidency secretariat, Andreas Mavroyiannis.

Christofias will be responsible for a much vaguer objective – a ‘Better Europe’ – which is the nebulous slogan of our presidency.

This could be achieved, according to Mavroyiannis by making citizens feel closer to the Union and building solidarity among them.

For Chrisofias it is about putting people first and developing policies that would promote social cohesion and re-build citizens’ confidence in the EU. “We must give new meaning to the value of community solidarity,” he has said, stressing the need to “build

a better Europe”. Lofty objectives, that would require much more than the six months of our presidency to be achieved.

Unfortunately our presidency will not be carried out under the best circumstances. On Monday Cyprus applied for an EU bailout and this week representatives of the EU, European Central Bank and IMF arrive here to start work on the preparation of bailout terms. Concerns have been expressed in the EU about the suitability of a country entering the support mechanism holding the presidency. The bailout talks could strain relations with Brussels, at the worst possible time.

Christofias has on countless occasions attacked the EU’s “neoliberal” policies and nobody knows how he will react to the austerity package that would be imposed on the country. He was so desperate to avoid the bailout he tried to secure loans from China and Russia.

This was not the wisest move for an EU government, but especially

one exercising the presidency, as it could be interpreted in unfavourable ways, raising questions about allegiances. Could a country that was being bank-rolled by EU rivals, be trusted to put the Union’s interests first when running the presidency?

The question might be asked if loans are secured – looking rather doubtful – but we are certain Cyprus would still prove to be an honest broker pursuing the interests of the Union without hidden agendas.

The government has even resolved to keep the Cyprus problem off the presidency’s agenda, despite the unrelenting, hostile rhetoric by Turkey and the constant threats relating to the sea exploration for hydrocarbons. This, more than anything, underlines the government’s commitment to making the Cyprus presidency a success. There will be difficulties, but as long as it sticks to the role of honest broker, it should have nothing to fear.

Letters to the Editor Lengthy court case has been a real eyeopener Five years ago I was embezzled out of a quarter million euros by a Cypriot who took a loan and as a guarantee issued me a cheque. The deal, which was to be finished in two weeks ended in a disaster. I filed a civil court action as well as informing the police, and the state attorney filed charges against the individual.

I was called seven times into the Paphos court in each of the two cases. I learned to appreciate the coffee in the court, saw many busybodies running around and have sat in on many hearings dealing with people who were told to leave the country.

I have been in Cyprus for more than 10 years. If the court added up the time they

took to postpone the cases, time management would dictate that they would be better off deciding a case in first instance. I am sure I am not the only one experiencing this treatment. However justice is far from being done.

If I may quote Lefkos Middleton, the founder of the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, from the Sunday Mail January 29, 2012: “Cypriots are shockingly tolerant of financial crime and lack of transparency.

There’s a tendency to adapt and gain benefits from this lack of transparency rather than hitting the animal on the head.

JA van Weelden, Paphos

A chance to solve Cyprob Cypriots in the north, as well as those in the south, are still waiting for a solution of the so-called Cyprus problem. A solution should be found together, meaning both sides. Cyprus has never had such a good chance to solve the Cyprus problem. We have the EU presidency on the one hand, and gas fields to support the European energy needs on the other hand. This powerful combination – and Cyprus’ strong relationship with Israel - is an excellent chance to make a deal with Turkey, which has enormous needs in the field of energy.

To mediate the whole affair, Cyprus should ask neutral Switzerland to be a go-between. Switzerland has historical experience in federalism. If President Demetris Christofias decides to have some real success in his so-far unlucky presidency, he should immediately take this chance.

Hans-Jacob Heitz, Limassol

War on drugs is completely futile I refer to the ‘hash stash’ article in the Sunday Mail June 17 where three people were arrested for eight grammes of cannabis. Every study commissioned into the subject, from Harvard Medical School to London’s Metropolitian Police, states that the current ‘war on drugs’ is futile. When will the authorities finally realise this and concentrate on catching real criminals instead.

SK Nicosia

Harder exams will not make pupils cleverer Lauren O’Hara’s article on education, Saturday June 23, prompts me to at last put pen to paper on the issue of re-introduction of UK ‘O’ Level examinations.

Michael Gove, UK Education Minister, proposes scrapping the current GCSE exams (as too easy) and returning to the system of GCE ‘O’ Level (the ‘Golden Age’) with CSE for the less able. As usual on these issues he, and Lib Dem Nick Clegg (who objects) and Lauren O’Hara (who also objects) do not actually know what they are talking about. Indeed, why should they?

They are not professional teachers.

However, I have taught maths for thirty years and can say this...there are many objections to Mr Gove’s proposals, but they are not value judgements as to fairness or equality. They are technical and practical and as such their logic is inexorable.

For example, the objection from Mr Clegg and Ms O’Hara (with the best of intentions) is that it introduces a ‘two tier’ system dividing the privileged and the underprivileged.

When GCE ‘O’ Level and CSE were scrapped twenty odd years ago they were replaced with GCSE. But this had a three-tier system, Foundation, Intermediate and Higher.

The latter two could award ‘O’ level pass, but with a greater pass mark required on the Intermediate paper. More recently it has gone to a two-tier entry, Foundation and Higher. So a two-tier system is not being newly introduced. It has always been

there (for good educational reasons). So there is no introduction of inequality.

In reality, if Mr Gove’s proposal is implemented, the exam boards will retain GCSE Foundation and Higher and simply rename them CSE and GCE. Next fallacy; he wants the GCE to be ‘harder’. This will not make pupils any cleverer and if the exam boards re-adjust the pass mark (a standard practice) then the pass rate will be unaltered at about 50% of the entry.

On the other hand if only 25% are allowed to pass then a huge cohort will not have university entry requirements (40% go to university and need a maths pass).

That would slash the university entry by a third putting a third of lecturers out of work and reducing graduates by the same amount.

Either that or they have to let them in without a pass.

Now why is it that the Minister of Health, or newspaper columnists, do not give advice and opinion to doctors on diagnostic method or which drugs to use?

It is of course because they know what they don’t know. Whereas when it comes to education, they don’t know what they don’t know. After all they have all been to school! Well we have all used sticking plasters, but that does not make us brain surgeons.

Derek Smith, Maths Dept, King Richard School, Dhekelia

Asking for bailout was a big mistake The biggest mistake of the current government was to apply for the EU bailout.

Finland is asking Cyprus to guarantee the bailout funds, and that is only the beginning.

On our next trip as Cypriot citizens to other EU countries we may be asked if maybe we need a person-

al loan to tidy us over. The Cypriot people will be classified as scroungers and no good lazy bums.

The Cypriot banks created these problems on their own, Now the whole of Cyprus will have to pay for that. If there is still time the government should withdraw its application

and wait for approval of other loans. The worst of it all is that as Cyprus takes over the EU rotating presidency the various comments in foreign publications is that it is like leaving the fox in charge of the chicken coop.

A concerned citizen

The people demand and deserve open government A recent report in the Cyprus Mail: ‘Overtime row is crippling parts of public service’ was quite telling with regards to the process of government in Cyprus, but I believe not simply because of the presenting issue.

I am not able to enter into discussion on overtime rates for public sector workers due to my lack of real understanding of the issue.

However, there is a detail in the report which, for me and perhaps others, jumps off the page.

It seems that ‘one MP’ has an opinion on the issues but only spoke to the reporter ‘on condition of anonymity’ I ask why is this?

Is he/she frightened of something? Surely, we vote these people in to lead the country and to represent the voters in parliament.

We want to know what they believe to be the way forward; we want to know where they stand on important issues confronting the nation.

How dare this individual behave in this way; he/she does not deserve our trust nor our vote.

The people demand and deserve ‘open government’ and this will only come about when our representatives speak with conviction and are willing to lead from the front with courage.

Michael Crawford, Larnaca

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13 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

Opinion

Now, we have a chance We shouldn’t view our resort to the EU as losing control of our economy but as an opportunity for much-needed change Comment Theodore Panayotou

W

HEN things get tough, the tough get going, and things have certainly have gotten tough for Cyprus with the economy coming to a screeching halt after three decades of impressive growth.

A combination of internal imbalances and external shocks have led to rising budget deficits, tripling of unemployment and successive downgrading of our economy and our banks from triple-A to junk status. What is to blame? Entering the eurozone unprepared to compete as the world economic crisis was unfolding in combination with our procrastination in taking corrective measures proved deadly.

But not all is lost. Our being forced into the arms of the European Facility for Financial Stability (EFSF) is a blessing in disguise which may very well prove to be the beginning of another Cyprus economic miracle.

First of all it removes the discretion from our politicians and gives them the alibi they so badly need in order to take unpopular measures to remove the accumulated distortions in our economy, from the over-bloated public sector to the inflexible labour markets, from the maze of bureaucratic procedures to the unjustified privileges and handouts.

Second, the resort to the EFSF for help drives home the lesson that the “opportunitist” or “serendipity” economic model, which proved so generous for Cyprus, does not always guarantee economic growth and prosperity as it depends too much on luck and circumstance and too little on the fundamentals of international competitiveness. It exposes Cyprus to risks and external shocks and deprives the economy of internal resilience. The lesson is that, instead of relying exclusively on serendipity, Cyprus should rediscover the hard work ethic, enterprising creativity, and social responsibility that led to the Cyprus economic miracle in the two decades that followed the devastation from the Turkish invasion of 1974.

In the same way that the 1974 loss of one third of the country and two thirds of the economy removed the comfort zone and the claim of the few to privilege and drove

home the need to imagine, to create and to produce real value, today’s loss of control of our macro-economic management to EFSF will soon remove the barriers to change and prepare the ground for the new economic miracle.

Think of the new Cyprus with a lean and highly productive public sector which facilitates rather than inhibits private sector initiatives; a one-stop shop public service with a minimum of bureaucracy where a willingness to help and a can-do attitude permeates every transaction; a public sector that does not close for siesta when the rest of Europe is hard at work.

Think of a new Cyprus with a labour market that is flexible, providing job security and good wages by its agility, job creation and productivity not by privilege, and acquired right. Think of labour unions that strive to create jobs for the 40,000 unemployed instead of striving to preserve and enhance the privileges of their members regardless of their levels of productivity.

Think of a new Cyprus with banks that know how to evaluate investment projects, how to assess and manage risks; banks that invest first and foremost in building a sustainable economy at home instead of spreading themselves thin across the globe and exposing themselves to risks they don’t understand and cannot manage.

Think of a new Cyprus with an education system that is decentralised, student-centred and promotes moral values, creativity, innovation and enterprise instead of the current centralised teacher-centred system that promotes conformity and routine memorisation and guards the privileges of the teachers rather than the learners.

It may well be the kick in the pants we need to unleash the great reserve of potential that has been released before at times of crisis

Cyprus should rediscover the hard work ethic that characterised us after the invasion Think of a new Cyprus that invests in research and innovation, that promotes experimentation and entrepreneurship to create wealth and jobs rather than relying on a strange mixture of statism and serendipity; a Cyprus in which development does not mean just lending and borrowing money for land purchase and land development but investing in the knowledge and creativity of its human resources.

Think of a new Cyprus where the environment and all our natural and cultural heritage are respected and invested in as valuable assets and a source of competitive advantage rather than degraded for convenience and quick profit by the state and business alike.

Think of a new Cyprus as an educational and research centre, as an energy and logistics centre and as a centre for conventions and medical tourism; a Cyprus that invests in research and development of renewable energy and in green and energy-efficient buildings and infrastructure; a Cyprus that exports solar energy technology instead of importing oil; a Cyprus that develops downstream industries from its newly found natural gas rather than simply exporting it to finance its budget deficits.

Think of a Cyprus of balanced budgets, of manageable national debt, and of a viable social security system; a Cyprus which deposits its budget surpluses and its revenues from natural gas exploitation in a Future Generations Fund for long-term investments and adverse times instead of recur-

rent expenditures and distortionary subsidies.

Finally, think of a Cyprus that offers to foreign investors not only a pleasant climate, a good infrastructure and a low corporate tax but also world-class educational and health services, personal security, an attractive natural and cultural environment, efficient public services and competitive energy costs.

This vision may seem like a tall order but our appeal to the EFSF for help may well be the kick start of the trajectory for a new Cyprus. It may well be the kick in the pants we need to unleash the great reserve of potential that has been released before at times of crisis and produced an economic miracle every time. Those who look for opportunities to invest in emerging high-return ventures with manageable risk must give serious consideration to investing in the emerging new Cyprus. This will give them a head start and a preferential stake in Cyprus’ next economic miracle.

Dr Theodore Panayotou is the Director of the Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM) and Professor of Economics and the Environment at Harvard University, served as consultant to the UN and to governments in the US, China, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and Cyprus. He has published and was recognised for his contribution to the Intergovernmental Committee on Climate Change won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Contact: theo@ciim.ac.cy

The foreigners are coming to sort us out Comment Loucas Charalambous MUCH as it hurts our ‘national dignity’, all we who recognise the perilous situation to which our worthless and incompetent politicians have led us felt a sense of relief after the developments of the last few days. At last, the Troika is coming.

The foreigners are coming to sort us out. Thank God. Nobody can know how much bigger a disaster President Christofias would have caused had he succeeded in securing another loan from the Russian Federation or China. It is fortunate for Cyprus that the Troika arrives here tomorrow to take over from him the running of our economy.

It is inevitable that people will be wondering what the Troika will do. What conditions will it impose on us? How much will we suffer? We hope the Troika technocrats will identify very fast - if they have not already done so the root cause of our problem so they can sort it out.

But even if they are not aware of it, they will not need very long to identify it as every rational person living in this country has done so a long time ago. All our problems stem from the huge cost of the public service, the nightmarish result of the accumulated political populism of 40 years and the scourge of Christofias for the last four years.

I have repeatedly argued in the past that the only remedy for our constantly deteriorating public finances would be the drastic

downsizing of the public service. It is criminal for the state to maintain departments for services that could as easily be provided by the private sector. This is the only way to drastically cut the huge cost of the state sector that has been literally plundering state coffers.

In addition to this, all the super-privileges enjoyed by public employees such as the non-contributory pensions and retirement bonuses, the scandalous allowances, etc should be abolished.

I will repeat something I wrote 12 years ago that I think illustrates the scale of the problem.

The public sector payroll of Cyprus absorbs 31 per cent of annual state expenditure and is one of the highest percentages in the world. The average of the EU

is about 13 per cent; even Greece had a lower percentage than Cyprus at 22 per cent.

We should also note the following: of 20 African countries for which the IMF provides data, only seven were worse than Cyprus. These figures illustrate more than adequately, the scale of our problem. Our public debt has been steadily growing so we could pay the high wages, generous pensions, allowances and other privileges of our over-large number of public employees.

In the last couple of years, everyone, apart from Christofias and AKEL, had been urging the union bosses of PEO, SEK and PASYDY to show a sense of responsibility so as to avoid the need of applying to the support mechanism. But they would not budge, a stance fully supported

by AKEL and Christofias.

They spouted the familiar rhetoric about workers’ conquests and workers rights so they would not lose the super-privileges, paid by borrowed money. A year ago, this column warned the militant PASYDY boss Glafcos Hadjipetrou that a consequence of his intransigence would be the arrival of the IMF in order to sort things out. It would be Hadjipetrou and his members that would be crying in such a case.

But Hadjipetrou remained defiant, announcing this week that he does not fear the Troika.

That’s fine. Tomorrow the Troika will be here Mr Hadjipetrou and we will welcome it but I suspect you, who paved the way for its arrival, will be among the first to voice regret for this achievement.

14 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Opinion

Banks are the biggest evil since independence N

ECTARIA is petite and attractive, divorced and living with her two daughters.

Five years ago she was comfortably off, happily married with her own home, which she employed as collateral to take out an oversized bank loan with which to purchase building land for her daughters’ future houses, and a new, top of the range, family car.

Last year, her eldest daughter, Maria was promised a place at a top UK university and the younger by three years, Alexandra, was diagnosed with a rare disease. Then came the Cyprus economic recession, divorce and Nectaria’s income, from managing three separate private sector jobs, fell by half. Her ex, a compulsive gambler, became unemployed, considerably reducing the amount of alimony he paid on a monthly basis, and to top it all, Alexandra had fallen seriously ill, requiring specialised treatment at a London hospital at considerable expense.

This year Nectaria put the building land

Those struggling with hefty loans should simply refuse to stop making payments and see what the banks can actually do It is time banks paid for their mistakes - senseless lending being the cause of both the Greek, and now Cypriot, financial fiasco

Comment Hermes Solomon up for sale, asking twice cost price in an effort to cover Maria’s first year university fees, supplement her own income to care for Alexandra and pay off her mounting overdraft as well as the outstanding loan on the now not so new, top range, family car.

When she confided in me last week she was at her wits’ end, having failed to sell the land and overdrawn at the bank by five times her present annual income - barely able to repay the bank interest on her overdraft, never mind the capital.

Nectaria has made herself ill with worry and is taking anti-depressants in the hope she will not commit the ultimate sin – suicide. She only now realises that her expectations five years ago more than exceeded her ability to satisfy them. She, like thousands of her compatriots, believed in our banks and our president’s insistence that the Cyprus economy would avoid the worst of the world recession.

I told her that our president ‘doit arrêter de nous raconter n’importe quoi!’

Naturally, she understood what I said by the contemptuous manner in which I’d said it.

And as I have often said, you can buy anything in Cyprus but do not expect to sell it at a profit, especially after the nonsensi-

cal property boom years of 2003/2008, when prices went unjustifiably through the roof given the relatively low wages and cost of living at the time. What few reckoned on was a rise of more than 50 per cent in the cost of living over this past four years combined with a similar fall off in trade, property demand and values, causing a dramatic increase in unemployment - a recipe for disaster for the financially overextended.

If we think we will escape the Greek tragedy here then think again. What is the point

of the bank repossessing Nectaria’s land and house when they could not sell either at anywhere near their market value of five years ago?

Today there are those with too much money who don’t know what to do with it, nor dare invest in new enterprises doomed to failure in low growth or negative growth economies, versus those with no money and in debt to banks for five times their annual income, while banks dare not call in bad loans for fear of bankrupting themselves

rather than their debtors.

Nectaria is living in a negative equity trap like many of her contemporaries, who would just love to sell their big homes and pay off their bank loans, if only they could sell them at a price that would pay off those loans. But they can’t! And there we have it, the Cyprus property crash.

This present bank/client relationship is a recipe for wholesale depression, never mind recession. Our banks are the biggest evil visited upon since independence - yes, I said independence, another undeniable evil that led to the division of the island!

Our banks are the cause of all of our present woes - begging to lend to willing borrowers against ‘uncertain’ collateral, renegotiating bad loans at unsustainably high interest rates mirroring those of the EU Central Bank to governments seeking bailouts, which anticipate the ever spiralling downward death journey of the indebted in dead economies.

I have always abhorred abusive usury - especially the kind that knowingly bankrupts the borrower. It is time banks paid for their mistakes - senseless lending being the cause of both the Greek, and now Cypriot, financial fiasco.

Rather than the ECB/IMF lending billions to refinance banks at interest rates barely a quarter of what banks charge borrowers, defaulting banks should be nationalised and interest rates charged to borrowers fixed at no more than two per cent above bank rate.

That’s how governments obliged banks to operate 40 years ago, prior to privatisation and the irresponsible freeing up of banking restrictions.

Today, Nectaria is expected to pay nine per cent annual interest on her already twice restructured/renegotiated loan, thus driving her to consider taking an overdose of anti-depressants/sleeping pills along with half a bottle of Johnny Walker.

I told her that I preferred Jamesons when feeling down, and not just half a bottle, which made her laugh and relax enough for me to suggest she treated her indebtedness with the levity it deserved - to sit alone for 15 minutes every day in a quiet place and meditate on the fact that bank board executives don’t give a fig about their banks’ gargantuan losses, along with this government, our president, the civil service or union bosses, who collectively are the cause of her problems and responsible for finding a solution - not her! She should refuse to pay her blood sucking bank a penny piece more and see what they do about it.

And if all those indebted like Nectaria followed this example, then banks would return to being just banks and not the extortionists they are today.

The British are such a disappointment to Martin Amis Comment David Sexton THEY treat writers better in America, Martin Amis has said. Yet again.

In America. There they value their role in forming the nation, he believes - whereas in Britain, the press have more respect for the man in the street than for writers. We are nothing less than congenitally suspicious of authors, he reckons.

Catching out Amis rubbishing Britain to foreign interviewers has become merry sport over the past few years.

Last year, he gave a corker to Le

Nouvel Observateur, in which he dissed the royals, saying they were all philistines, the Queen didn’t listen to what he [Amis] said, Prince Charles had a laugh like a pig snoring, and he’d rather not be English at all - and that though life in London could be pleasant enough, it was all crap in the provinces (“tout est délabré à l’intérieur”).

Amis is a serial interviewee and many prize pronouncements along these lines still remain hidden away in literary blogs. My personal favourite came when an interviewer for a website called Identitytheory.com sagely observed to him that Americans have more space, and Amis replied: “Yes you have. We are all crushed together. Our countryside is just bollocks.” Clearly he has never

explored Norfolk properly.

Usually, Amis takes care to make it clear that it is the British press, rather than the English per se, that he despises, doubtless aware that picking that fight, Little Mart v the nation, might not turn out too well.

And indeed he often says perfectly nice things about the English that never get relayed home. He told the latest interviewer, Sam Tenenhaus, the editor of the New York Times book review, he feels “very uncrusading” about England now, regarding us with “affectionate amusement rather than any great frown”.

So what is it that really makes Martin Amis so unhappy about British journalists and critics? The answer perhaps is to be found in one of the first interviews he ever gave, at the

start of his career. Then he said, with apparent seriousness: “In 200 years, I want them to be talking about Dante, Shakespeare and Martin Amis.”

This collocation, let’s agree, doesn’t seem to be popular yet in the press.

On the contrary, reviewers in Britain have become ever more snarky, deriding the way Amis has addressed a long succession of giant themes in his fiction - millennialism, the Holocaust, the infinity of space, Stalinism, nuclear weapons, Islamism - as if that was the way to make it matter more.

Even his good friend Will Self observed to Amis’s biographer that “the impulse that makes him the finest prose writer of his generation causes him also to be the worst political writer”. The quote so startled

Amis when he read it in proof that he rang Self in the hope that he had been misquoted. He hadn’t. Another scene for Beerbohm.

In America, it seems, not knowing him as the British do, they take Martin Amis in particular more seriously as well as writers in general. Tenenhaus assured his readers that Amis’s new novel, Lionel Asbo: State of England - hilarious but completely bogus as social observation - was spot on. For American readers, he said, “Amis’s peephole picture of a great nation in decline, its inhabitants like ICU patients gnawing at their sutures, will seem painfully relevant.”

Gnawing at our sutures! Quite an image of Albion there, courtesy of Martin Amis. We really should feel proud of him after all, perhaps.

15 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

Opinion Whatever the Troika’s plans for Cyprus, implementation is the key since getting legislation through is not enough

uotes of the week

Comment Erol Riza

D

ESPITE all the theatrics of politicians in Cyprus and the anathema that some politicians considered an application to the EU to be, the government has formally applied.

The government may seek to blame the application on the banks’ bond exposure to Greece and the increase of the banks’ non performing loans (ala Bank of Cyprus), resulting from Greece’s economic situation, are what has pushed for the EU bailout; these may not be the entire story.

We will only know the true position of the banks when an independent audit of the banks’ loan portfolios takes place. I believe, as do distinguished Cypriots such as former President Vassiliou, the problems of the public sector and lack of structural reforms are very much the issues that bother the EU since these make Cyprus’ debt trajectory unsustainable. This article will try to consider what the EU will require as conditions for its assistance.

In the first instance, as the Central Bank governor has explained, it will be important to find out how much the banks in Cyprus will require as support both for the Greek exposure and also if there are problems with loans in Cyprus which have been restructured and have land as security. If the banks need to take up more support from the EFSF/ESM it would be a welcome development as a recapitalisation of the banks could mean that banks would be able to resume their lending and boost growth.

This is the easy one to resolve since it will mean that the EFSF/ESM provides the funding and following the meeting of EU leaders this will be direct to banks and not impact the public debt.

However, the need to reform will still be important for the Troika in order to mend the structural problems of the public sector for debt sustainability.

Based on the EU and IMF recommendations, it is clear that a serious problem has been the cost of the wider public sector in Cyprus; principally the payroll and the pension benefits of the broad public sector. This issue was also raised by the former Minister of Finance Charilaos Stavrakis at a presentation he made at the Hilton which showed that if no action was taken (this was in 2010) the public debt would grow to be approximately 80 per cent of GDP by 2015. The other issues that the Troika could propose are privatisation of selected public entities such as CyTA and EAC, broadening the tax base and tightening up on tax evasion, and of course regaining competitiveness via higher productivity and reform of the automatic CoLA payments.

On competitiveness, the EU will recommend that in order to regain this and improve

“A hundred thousand welcomes” How Martin McGuinness, Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister and former IRA commander, greeted the Queen (in Gaelic) when they shook hands in Belfast

“I tried to pretend I was combing my hair. Fat chance” Tory peer Baroness Trumpington on the Vsign she recently gave in the House of Lords.

“That was a good joke in 1600 and it is still a good joke” Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge commenting on Shakespeare’s line “Let’s kill all the lawyers” quoted during an appeal case

“They are philistines” Writer Martin Amis’s view of the Royal Family

Former President George Vassiliou: long at the forefront of urging public sector reform

EU bailout: better late than never the current account deficit it would be necessary to reform the CoLA system and seek measures to increase productivity. The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Federation as well as the former Central Bank governor called for these measures two years ago. The current governor of the Central Bank calls for more use of information technology to increase productivity.

The economy needs these reforms and it is for the wider benefit if the government of the day works in the direction of such reforms. These reforms do not require cuts in salaries and would result in a more viable economy as the current account deficits have been linked with a loss of competitiveness.

The public sector cost to the budget is surely to be discussed. The civil servants in Cyprus enjoy some of the most generous benefits in the

world, in terms of the hours and days in the year they work, their non contribution towards their pensions, their non contribution towards medical treatment at hospitals and worst of all their pay (with a 13th salary) is higher than the private sector; former President Vassiliou’s report clearly showed this to be the case.

This is a problem which has accumulated over the years as no president has attempted seriously to take on the civil service union. Thus, it would be reasonable to expect the Troika to insist on a more sustainable pension system where civil servants contribute to their pension and pay for the medical treatment; the latter is likely to happen if the National Health Insurance system comes into force.

In the case of taxation it would be interesting to see what the Troika will suggest since the government has

‘The other issues that the Troika

could propose are privatisation of selected public entities such as CyTA and EAC’

looked at increasing taxes on “wealth” without much success. Increasing taxation is not always the best solution, especially on the corporate sector if one wants this sector to invest. The corporate tax rate at 10 per cent is not negotiable in the eyes of many although I believe there should be no sacred cows if the economy is to be put on a sounder footing. The EU Council recommendations mention tax evasion and a more efficient tax collection to increase tax revenues. This should be welcomed if the corporate sector is evading tax.

The proposal to privatise the EAC and CyTA will be on the cards since these two organisations have severe problems in sustaining the generous benefits to existing and retired employees and investing in their infrastructure needs, especially the EAC. There is a need for the government to raise revenue and partial privatisation will not suffice. The government should have a regulatory role but cease to be the investor.

If the negotiations between the government and the Troika lead to reforms which are implemented the Cyprus economy would be better served for the benefit of all. Implementation is the key since getting legislation through is not enough.

“Dude, I owe you big time... Come over one day after work and I’m opening a bottle of Bollinger” Email sent by an external trader to a Barclay’s trader over the interestrate rigging allegations “Before I came here, I thought Fawlty Towers was a comedy show.

Now, I realise it’s a hardhitting documentary” US stand-up comedian Greg Proops is not impressed by British hotels

”I have never been a big dater. It is nerve-wracking! But I am getting better. You know within three seconds if you are going to have a history with someone - it’s a long half-hour if you’ve got it wrong” Sex And The City star Kim Cattrall (above)

“I am the Olympics Minister. You should damn well know who I am” Reported remark by Hugh Robertson when security men at first barred him from entering the London 2012 media centre

“Somebody asked me to sign their passport.

I’m pretty sure it’s illegal but I did it. I should have signed their face as well so it matched the passport” Ricky Gervais

“There is masses of horse bonking in my book because it is all about stallions. It is more horse porn, I think” Writer Jilly Cooper (above) on her new novel Leading Sires “It is fast becoming the number one plastic surgery destination in the world. I have only been here nine months but was offered a free buttock lift as soon as I got off the plane” Tom Fletcher, Britain’s ambassador to the Lebanon on Beirut “I try it every night between dinner and breakfast. It ain’t done much good yet” Ozzy Osbourne when asked whether he had tried intermittent fasting to lose belly fat

16 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

News Review

No escape: Cyprus seeks bailout Bailout request CYPRUS said on Monday it was applying to Brussels for a bailout, both for its banking sector hit by exposure to Greece and for its budget deficit, making it the fifth euro zone country to turn to the bloc’s rescue funds for help. Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly said the country would also seek enough money to help with its budget deficit. The full amount would be decided over the course of weeks.

Six Griffon Vultures arrived on the island this week as part of efforts to bolster the dwindling population in Cyprus

Junk status WHILE the government has been weighing its options, Fitch Ratings on Monday cut the island’s sovereign debt to non-investment grade.

“In addition to the €1.8 billion – 10 per cent of GDP -- required for Cyprus Popular Bank, Fitch assesses that Cypriot banks will require further substantial injections of capital, potentially up to €4.0 billion – 23 per cent of GDP,” the agency said.

Murder motive POLICE said on Monday they were looking into all scenarios, including the war over online casinos, to establish a motive for the Ayia Napa shoot-out, which left five dead in the early hours of last Saturday. Police spokesman Andreas Angelides said forensic tests in combination with information from the public and intelligence gathered from recent crimes, would determine the course of investigations.

Hiring freeze THE FINANCE ministry has again asked lawmakers for exemptions to a hiring freeze in the public sector, citing concerns that key positions in public administration may remain vacant.

The government says it needs to hire some 350 people in permanent positions that are deemed crucial for the smooth running of the civil service machine.

Facial bones belonging to the first ing no effort to reduce power charges. due to increased provisions and a further inhabitants Troika visit Speaking after the House Commerce impairment of its Greek bond holdings.

Committee convened to see what measThe bank said it had requested an exCommission and Euro- ures the EAC had taken, DIKO’s Nico- tension from the Central Bank but ”it of Cyprus EUROPEAN pean Central Bank officials will arrive las Papadopoulos was especially harsh. was not possible for this request to be Cyprus early in the coming week to “Today we saw yet another recital of the granted.” work on the island’s bailout pro- monopoly’s arrogance. The EAC, in rehave been instart gramme, a euro zone official involved in gards to reducing the cost of electricity, said on Tuesday. repeated this government’s fixed manTCs protest discovered theThescheme mission will be the first chance for tra: others are to blame for everything,” HUNDREDS of Turkish Cypriots the experts to dig into the island’s financ- said Papadopoulos. marched through the streets of Brussels es and assess how much aid it needs. It in the on Wednesday to protest against Cyprus normally takes three to four weeks to taking over the presidency of the Eurodraw up a support programme.

Cut off pean Union, saying their rights were beoccupied A 22-YEAR-OLD man was taken into ing ignored. Some 400 protesters wearing Kofinou police station and charged in masks with no faces and holding signs region of ‘Broken man’ writing when he fired two shots into the saying “Do We Exist?” walked from the NINETEEN years after he fled Britain air with a rifle after an Electricity Au- European Parliament to the European the eve of a trial Asil Nadir on Tues- thority (EAC) employee tried to cut off Commission, in the centre of the city’s Akanthou on day entered the Old Bailey witness box his electricity in Pyrga. The suspect was administrative district, and handed out

Presidency online CYPRUS’ official website for the EU presidency went live on Monday offering information on conferences and cultural events, which will take place throughout the presidency. The website, which is available in five different languages English, Greek, Turkish, German and French, will be the main port of call for information during the six-month presidency, which begins today.

to tell the jury he was innocent of plundering his own company of nearly £150 million. Nadir, now 71, is accused of leaving a gaping black hole in the finances of Polly Peck International to spend on himself, his family and friends. He told the court he fled Britain because he was a “broken man without hope”.

EAC grilled LAWMAKERS laid into the Electricity Authority (EAC) on Tuesday for mak-

QUOTES OF THE WEEK “We wonder who would be interested in purchasing a bat and keeping it as a pet, with the great danger of contracting diseases” Animal rights group Justice for Animals on the sight of rare bats on display in a pet shop “People should stop buying g (from these businesses) and d just get a little cool box and take ke it with them and set it in front nt of these places to snub them” Loucas Aristodemou, u, head of the Cyprus Consumers’ Union and Quality of Life Associaciation on beach rip offs fs “Cyprus is not for sale. e.

The Cypriot people have their dignity.

And don’t challenge me with such provocative questions please” President Demetris Christofias in re-

sponse to a journalist questions “We’ve been through rough and tragic times before in our history and we managed to return to a strong economy. We will succeed again” DISY leader and presidential candidate Nicos Anastassiades “This This is the he paradox of the t European Union, Union, that tthe dog should be put p t in charge of pu the supply of sausages!” sa Kurt Ku Lauk, president p of the economic eco advisory board linked l nke to Merli kel’s centreright Christian Democrats on Demo Cyprus taking Cyp over ove the EU presidency pre while wh asking for fo a bailout

“I was a totally broken man. My health was in tatters, my hope of a fair trial was in tatters, I had zero hope of receiving a fair trial” Turkish Cypriot former fugitive Asil Nadir “I don’t know how to cover it.

Truly, I’m in despair” Ayios Dhometios Mayor Costas Petrou saying he doesn’t have money to pay staff “Does music know borders?”

Greek singer Angela Dimitriou (left) after denying reports she planned to perform in a casino in the north “The statements being made by the Finance Minister and the Governor of the Central Bank aren’t easing anyone’s doubts, since they show just how misinformed policymakers are with the depth of our economic problems” Economist Stelios Platis

released and the rifle was confiscated.

According to police, the 53-year-old owner of the property and father of the suspect protested at the power being cut off, even though the bill had not been paid.

Struggling THE INTERIOR Ministry is scrimping and saving to provide a lifeline to cashstarved municipalities after government and parliament made a substantial cut in their 2012 state grant. Interior Minister Eleni Mavrou acknowledged that municipalities needed to take short and long-term measures to address the shortfall, including trimming expenses, improving the collection of owed dues and taxes, and pooling resources.

Old bones FACIAL bones belonging to the first inhabitants of Cyprus have been discovered in the occupied region of Akanthou, it was announced on Tuesday. Excavation work carried out by the archaeology department of the International University of Cyprus in the north led to the discovery of the bones believed to belong to the original inhabitants of Cyprus.

The bones discovered are believed to be of a 20-year-old woman and 30-yearold man, dating back to the period 8400BC.

BoC needs THE Bank of Cyprus (BoC) on Wednesday requested temporary state assistance to the tune of €500 million after it failed to raise the necessary capital to meet a regulatory shortfall by Saturday

leaflets describing themselves as the forgotten Europeans.

Tough talk CENTRAL Bank chief Panicos Demetriades had a go at the island’s banks on Thursday suggesting they need to downsize to cope with their capital adequacy shortfall. In a speech at the Cyprus University of Technology (TEPAK), Demetriades said the large size of the banking sector proportionate to the island’s economy should be addressed.

Booze and fags PARLIAMENT on Thursday halted a government effort to put to a vote a bill raising the tax on tobacco and alcohol.

The majority of MPs – 23 -- voted against putting the bill to the vote, sending it back to the House Finance Committee.

Ruling AKEL’s 18 MPs voted in favour.

The government had submitted the bill as urgent – standard procedure to prevent profiteering.

Nicosia, Sicily POLISH Airlines LOT have slipped up allowing thousands of their passengers to believe that the capital of the island set to take over the EU presidency in just a few days is Nicosia, Sicily. The error was made in the June edition of their inflight magazine Kaleidoscope, which dedicates four-pages to Cyprus but the first two pages include the photo of a quaint town in Sicily and not a bustling capital city. The caption reads ‘No other EU member state capital is as beautifully located as Nicosia.’

17 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

Coffeeshop

Communist solidarity not what it used to be THREE DAYS after our comrade President announced that “our economy is doing well”, his government applied to Brussels for a bailout, confirming our establishment’s medical diagnosis, last week, that he had stopped residing in the real world for some time now.

The disease is contagious, because on Monday morning, just a few hours before the formal request for a bailout, government spokesman Stef-Stef was on a radio show defending comrade Tof ’s assertion, insisting it was a justified comment.

Only the minister with the wellgroomed moustache has not been affected by the no-contact-withreality epidemic, which afflicts members of the government and Akelites, but is being continuously reprimanded by the comrade for stubbornly maintaining a grip on reality.

The comrade boss yelled at Shiarly, at last Monday’s cabinet meeting, for supporting everything the hated technocrats were proposing. He yelled at him again at Tuesday’s meeting of the party leaders, who were shocked with the way the comrade was bullying his minister.

All Shiarly had said was that our EU partners had pointed out that Cyprus suffered from serious, structural weaknesses that needed to be tackled. The comrade aggressively told him not to listen to and repeat what the foreigners were telling him.

The nasty foreigners, poisoning Shiarly’s mind with nonsense about structural weaknesses etc, could not be trusted because they had too much contact with reality, IN TOF’S fantasy world, Russia always comes to the rescue of Kyproulla with loadsamoney to bail us out. Only this time Russia has been playing pello, as they say in my village.

After the deputy finance minister 10 days ago, this week it was the turn of Russia’s finance minister to say he had no knowledge of a request for a loan from Kyproulla.

This was because the request had been made “at the highest level” explained deputy government fantasist Christos Christofides, without elaborating.

We can only guess that the comrade called his good friend and former comrade President Putin directly and asked for ‘tri milliarda’. Putin avoided saying ‘nyet’.

He said he would help but then completely forgot about the matter. The comrade was too embarrassed to call and remind him, which is why he got hacks first to ask the deputy finance minister and then the finance minister if they knew anything about the loan.

ed the second Greek bailout and will be in charge of the IMF delegation arriving in Kyproulla. She was the author of a 10-page document which suggested, according to the Greek media, the sacking of 150,000 public servants by 2015.

She is certain to displace Big Bad Al from the top of the unpopularity chart. About time, as the Aussie had become too complacent and in the last few months had done and said nothing to justify staying at the number one spot.

It would be a welcome change to have a woman as our number one hate figure, indicating that sexism is a thing of the past.

DOES anyone of the head honchos of the Bank of Cyprus know what is going on at their bank or are they just taking us for a ride? First they said that they would cover their re-capitalisation requirements through a share issue.

Then there was problem with the big Russian shareholder, Dmitry Rybolovlev, who threatened not to exercise his rights unless a new law on trusts was passed. Deputies passed the law but he still did not buy any new shares. The B of C admitted it was only €200 million short of its target, but would raise the capital by selling stakes in its insurance companies.

It failed to find a buyer, but shareholders were told at the bank’s AGM that it was short by €200 million. Less than a week later it issued an announcement saying that it needed half a billion for its recapitalisation. Had its accountants not noticed that the bank was short by €300 million a week earlier?

We are not talking about a couple of thousand misplaced euro, which the world’s most meticulous accountant might have missed.

Failing to spot a shortage of 300 million must take a hell of a lot of effort, considering they always notice when a customer does not make a €200 monthly loan repayment on time and send out a stern reminder.

He hoped word would get back to Putin from the finance ministry and he would remember to send us the moollah. Alas we are still waiting, while the nasty austerity peddlers of the Troika are due to arrive any day.

LAST WEEKEND, the comrade’s most trusted minister, Neoclis Sylikiotis, was dispatched to Beijing in the hope that he would persuade his Chinese comrades to help us out with a few billion yuan, but sadly communist solidarity is not what it used to be.

The president’s fixer asked for a bilateral loan and a direct investment in the Popular Bank, which urgently needed (by last night) €1.8 billion for its recapitalisation.

He also took the smooth-talking Popular Bank chairman Michalis Sarris, with him to help.

On his return to Kyproulla, the minister, whose looks could have made him a Hollywood film star but he chose instead to serve AKEL, announced there were ‘positive signs’ from his Beijing contacts. He boasted that he had even got his Chinese comrades to sign a document by which they undertook to give their final answers within five days.

Is there such little trust between communist comrades nowadays that they had to sign a contract to ensure they kept their word to give a simple answer on time?

COMMUNIST solidarity, as we wrote above, is not what it used to be. AKEL chief Andros had also been sent to Beijing in order to beg his commie comrades for a loan and direct investment in the Popular Bank, but he did not make them sign any document.

He returned home, having been told to get Cypriot officials to contact some Chinese bankers he had been introduced to during his visit to discuss the details. For weeks our guys tried every form of communication but could not get through to the Chinese that were supposed to help us out.

This was why Sylikiotis was subsequently sent to Beijing and the reason he got his comrades to sign

The Comrade may not have received the red-carpet treatment in China and Russia, but it was rolled out in Brussels, where he was happy to pose a contract setting an asphyxiating time-frame for a ‘final answer’.

This ‘final answer’, according to Tof ’s fixer, should have been given within five days, by last Thursday.

Had the Chinese snubbed their Kyproullan comrades again, or had they honoured their signature and given the ‘final answer’, which the government chose not to make public to avoid embarrassment?

Whatever the answer, one thing is certain – you can’t trust commies from any country.

COMRADE Tof is finding out the hard way that the neo-liberal, market-worshipping, sub-human, blood-sucking, capitalists of the Eurogroup are much more trustworthy than his commie comrades.

They gave a positive ‘final answer’ to his request for a loan within a couple of days and by tomorrow their evil representatives will be here to start work on the terms and conditions. That is what I call good and reliable customer service, something that commie countries continue to be rubbish at.

The comrade is too much of a fanatic to acknowledge that the capitalists of the EU would be helping us avoid bankruptcy. Speaking to a gathering of Akelites, on Monday night, a few hours after his government decided to seek a bailout, he turned into Fidel Castro and urged them not to give up the fight for socialism.

“Raise the flags, as the late Ezekias Papaioannou (AKEL chief for 30 years and obedient servant of the Kremlin) would say. We are fighters, co-fighters for peace, democracy, social progress and finally socialism.”

He concluded with a message of

hope. “And you should be certain that the fate of the world is not soul-destroying and catastrophic for people capitalism.” It will just be the fate of Kyproulla, we hope, once the Troika he invited finalises its people-friendly austerity package.

OUR NEO-LIBERAL establishment, having always been a staunch supporter of soul-destroying capitalism, would like to welcome the Troika and hope its members will experience the traditional friendliness and hospitality we Cypriots extend to visitors, especially those with lots of money to spend.

We hope they will abolish all the privileges enjoyed at our expense by the public parasites, bring their pay in line with the private sector, arrange the exiling of all union bosses who are responsible for the economy’s lack of competitiveness, order the privatisation of semi-governmental organisations and cut the wages of Cyprus Airways pilots by 50 per cent.

We hope that by the time they finish with us, we will have a model neo-liberal economy in which the market is king. And promise to give full credit to the comrade Tof for his big contribution towards the establishment of capitalist paradise.

BIG BAD Al should brace himself for some bad news. He is unlikely to stay at the top of the ‘foreigners we love to hate’ chart for much longer. The media has already found a new candidate for the top position in the chart and she is a woman – IMF economist Delia Velculescu.

Velculescu was the IMF representative of the Troika that draft-

PERHAPS the B of C head honchos have been feeling the pressure being applied on the banks by the Akelite Governor of the Central Bank Dr Panicos Demetriades.

The new Gov seems to be loyally following the party directive to punish the banks, the exposure of which to the Greek market, is the only reason – as comrade and his spokesmen never tire of reminding – that we had to apply for a bailout.

The speech Dr Panicos gave to TEPAK on Thursday night could have been written by the AKEL Central Committee. He tore into the banks, which had been run badly, promised to undertake a major clean-up operation, cut their size and order an investigation of their loan portfolios.

As an AKEL spokesman, he expressed opposition to the European Commission’s suggestion of placing co-operative banks – run and controlled by AKEL - under the supervision of the Central Bank, because they were being monitored by another very good state service. They were well-run and healthy organisations, he said.

If this was the case, why did he not want them to be placed under the Central Bank’s supervision?

Perhaps then he would have to investigate the loan portfolios of the co-op banks, something AKEL does not want to happen.

TODAY is a very proud day for Kyproulla as we take over the presidency of the EU. We would like to wish our government a very successful presidency and express the wish it will run the EU a bit better than it has run our country.

We also hope the Union will not need a bailout in December, when the comrade will have completed our presidency’s mission to build a ‘better Europe’.

18 July 1,, 2012 201 20 12 2 • SUNDAY SUN MAIL

World in pictures

Protesters placed large effigies of (from left) German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German Social Democrats (SPD) Chairman Sigmar Gabriel in front of the Brandenberg Gate in Berlin during a protest on public spending (AFP)

Models present creations by Belgian fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck during men’s fashion week in Paris (AFP)

Yuzo Shiozawa applying makeup after dressing himself into his alter-ego, 1970s Japanese cartoon character Candice ‘Candy’ White Ardlay (AFP)

Released Indian fishermen prisoners wave after crossing over to India from Pakistan where they were arrested (AFP)

A Lancaster bomber drops poppies during a ceremony in London to unveil a memorial to members of Bomber Command who died during World War II

Italian football fans cheer in the Warsaw Fanzone after their team scored during semi-final against Germany (AFP)

An installation by artist Pinaree Sanpitak of Thailand, titled ‘Anything Can Break’, displayed during the 18th Biennale of Sydney (AFP)

Queen Elizabeth II visits the Titanic Museum in Belfast

A Kenyan vendor waiting for customers sells second-hand clothes at the Gikomba open-air market in Nairobi (AFP)

19 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

special report

EUpresidency

Cyprus at the helm Cyprus’ first EU presidency comes at a time of unprecedented upheaval for the 27 member states. It will be a gruelling six months

By Stefanos Evripidou YPRUS TAKES charge of the rotating presidency of the EU Council today, the third and last in line of the Trio Presidency after Poland and Denmark.

Eight years and two months to the day after Cyprus’ historic accession to the European Union, this tiny island state gets to sit at the head of the highly complex European decision-making machinery.

Poland, with a population of close to 40 million, used its first time at the helm to run a ‘big’ presidency, matching its ambitions in Europe as a medium-sized state. Denmark, with a much smaller

C

population of five and a half million, is no less important or influential. With nearly four decades of experience as an EU member, the Scandinavian state hands over the baton to Cyprus after completing its seventh EU presidency.

Clearly, Cyprus will have its work cut out to handle the ongoing economic and eurozone crisis while monitoring alongside the EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton the unpredictable situation brought on by the winds of change in the Arab world.

Its inexperienced institutions and civil service will be put to the test on a daily basis, tasked with managing the same challenges that each and every member

state, large or small, faces when running the presidency, along with the unforeseeable ones.

This time last year, the secretariat, charged with steering Cyprus safely through the six-month presidency, was leaderless for three months following the resignation of its then head Andreas Moleskis.

When his replacement was finally appointed, Deputy Minister for European Affairs Andreas Mavroyiannis showed he was fully cognisant of the enormity of the mission.

“Cyprus will face one of its biggest challenges as an EU member state, but also as a state,” he told the Sunday Mail.

He likened the presidency

ito a “maturity test” for the country which has suffered a turbulent existence since gaining ce in 1960. independence e chance to This was the ure of Cyprus build a picture ble, equal and as a credible, responsible EU partner, he said. h f pubb It’s also a chance for lic servants to really get to grips with what’s going on in Europe, which as we all discover bit by bit, day by day, has a massive impact on our daily lives.

The hope is that the knowledge and experience gained will trickle down to the rest of society, making

the public more concerned and engaged with the goings on and decision-making processes of this union of 27 states and five hundred million people.

And true enough, for those observing preparations for the presidency, the public service has undergone

a facelift in recent months, along with the capital’s roads and pavements.

There is more information on the Cyprus EU presidency’s official website on who is responsible for what and in which department than

TURN TO PAGE 20

20 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

EUpresidency MINISTRIES’ EU PRIORITIES Foreign ministry

Taking the helm in

THE key issue for the foreign ministry during the Cyprus presidency is the negotiations of the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) covering the period 2014-2020.

The MFF is not only a mechanism for ensuring that the EU is spending in a predictable and disciplined manner, it also sets political priorities for future years. The ceiling proposed by the Commission for the period 2014-2020 is 1.025 billion euros per year (around one trillion euros in total). The ministry aims to contribute to the successful completion of the MFF negotiations.

The ministry will also focus on the enlargement agenda of the EU on the basis of the “own merits” approach, strict conditionality and equitable treatment.

The presidency will help take forward Iceland’s accession negotiations.

After the recent developments in neighbouring countries, following the Arab Spring, the ministry will also seek to bring Europe closer to its neighbours and focus among other areas on the southern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy.

Finance ministry WITH regards to the eurozone crisis and the enhancement of economic governance, special emphasis will be given to trying to reinforce the surveillance of fiscal and macroeconomic policies.

Particular attention will also be given to the enhancement of the Single Market, for which 2012 will mark its 20th anniversary.

In the area of financial services, the focus of the presidency will be on proposals relating to the revised rules on markets in financial instruments, on market abuse and on credit rating agencies, greater market transparency and crisis management in the financial sector.

Commerce and industry ministry THE commerce and industry ministry will focus on EU security in energy supply, the use of renewable energy sources (RES), the funding of the small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) and the promotion of trade agreements between the EU and third countries, On energy, priorities relate to further implementation of the three pillars of the EU energy policy: energy supply, competitiveness in energy and sustainable growth.

On RES, the presidency will promote an EU Commission communication on further reducing greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

On competition issues, the presidency aims to strengthen the competitiveness of SMEs and their access to funding, reinforcing the internal market and consumer protection and facilitating access to labour markets.

In terms of EU trade agreements with third states, the Cyprus presidency will be promoting the completion of EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, the commencement of negotiations for an EU-China investment agreement, the start of negotiations for a renewal of an EU-USA free trade agreement as well as free-trade agreements with Japan and Singapore.

The new meeting hall at the presidential palace built for the EU presidency

A small government living in Brussels

Interior ministry

By Athena Arsalidou

THE interior ministry will focus heavily on migration, asylum and civil protection, and specifically on completing a Common European Asylum System by the end of 2012, and on improving response capacities to effectively and rapidly face disasters and crises.

Other issues include the legal migration package and in particular the seasonal workers and the ICTs directives, the strategic approach to EU action on migratory pressures, the modernisation of the EU’s border regime and the implementation of the renewed Global Approach to Migration and Mobility.

MORE than 200 people are working currently at the permanent representation of Cyprus at the EU in Brussels to cover the needs of the six month presidency.

Full of enthusiasm, most of them young, working even on holidays and Sundays, the employees at the Permanent Representation have long realised that the success of an EU presidency depends primarily on the proper preparation and planning.

In Brussels, there is a “small government” headed by Permanent Representative Ambassador Kornelios Korneliou. All of them have the common goal to turn the first Cyprus EU presidency into a successful one.

In an interview with CNA, Cyprus presidency spokesman there, Nicos Christodoulides said that before starting the preparations for the EU presidency the Representation had around 80 employees.

This has now risen to more than 230.

The employees, he added, come from all ministries as well as the legal service, the Central Bank etc. The majority of them will return to Cyprus when the presidency ends in December.

From July 1 Cyprus will chair most of the working groups of the Council, a role, which Christodoulides described as much more difficult than the role of defending national interests at the working groups.

“The Cypriot officers will have a more difficult role, since they will have to reconcile the positions of various countries with the aim to reach an agreement among all member states so that the EU can move forward,” he said.

He said much of the staff is young. “I think this largely explains their enthusiasm,” he said.

Justice ministry ENHANCING police co-operation with a view to combating cross-border crime will be one of this ministry’s priorities with particular emphasis on internet related crime, human trafficking and illegal trafficking of cultural heritage artefacts.

The ministry will also deal with pending issues to do with the Schengen area and promote Bulgaria’s and Romania’s accession to the Schengen area.

The legislative package for the protection of personal data will be given a priority.

Communications ministry THE ministry of communications and works will promote policy measures in line with the White Paper on EU Transport Policy for the decade 2010-2020 which aim to achieve transport sustainability through trans-European networks.

The development of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS - the Galileo Project) will also be a priority.

The ministry is also seeking to influence the EU policy agenda on maritime affairs, by ‘reenergising’ the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) and the Blue Growth initiative which aims to stimulate growth, jobs and competitiveness from marine and maritime sectors.

(Continued from page 19) you could ever find on any Cyprus government website.

What would have taken hours and days of phone calls, being bandied about from one helpless operator to another, now takes minutes on the presidency website where one can find the name, contact number and even welcoming photograph of the Cypriot official responsible for any subject matter that comes under EU competences. And for the record, that’s quite a lot of subjects.

One of Cyprus’ greatest challenges is dealing with the distance between Nicosia and Brussels. The government’s response has been to make the presidency a Brussels-based one, with the permanent representation considered the frontline, boosted by new staff and public officials seconded to the EU capital. It has also been given a lot more autonomy than usual to make quick and important decisions.

Cyprus has a hugely demanding organisational role to play as well as that of an honest broker while showing political leadership by acting in the general European interest.

Cypriot officials will have to chair hundreds upon hundreds of meetings at various levels, and manage a number of tough issues, including working with the European Parliament to push through a load of European Commission legal proposals, completing negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2014-2020, handling the economic crisis, strengthening economic governance, promoting growth and jobs and concluding a Common European Asylum System (CEAS) by the end of the year.

Those chairing the meetings have a decisive role to play, since they have to find the right balance among the different positions of the EU member states to reach a compromise consensus that would meet the interests of the member states as well as the overall interests of the EU and its citizens.

At the same time, there are certain national interests that can not be entirely ignored, like the €510 million shortfall in funds earmarked for Cyprus in the next EU seven-year budget.

Permanent Representative Ambassador in Brussels Kornelios Korneliou “Sometimes, they work until 11.00 pm, all of them, not just the young ones, all of them, sharing the same national goal to succeed. I think that to a great extent, the final result will depend on the enthusiasm of our colleagues here,” he said.

“There is a small government here.”

He said that Cyprus’ small public service enables it to be more flexible and to have a more direct communication among the government departments for a better coordination during the EU presidency.

He expressed the view that a successful Cyprus EU presidency will upgrade the role of Cyprus in the EU and at an international level, which could have a positive impact on its national issues.

A long round of meetings DURING Cyprus’ presidency, around 1,500 meetings will take place in the framework of the Council’s working groups, all chaired by Cypriots.

More than 90 per cent of meetings will take place in Brussels.

The number of European Councils to be convened is expected to rise due to the crisis in the eurozone while more than 60 ministerial meetings will take place in Brussels and Luxembourg, chaired by Cyprus.

Around 180 meetings will take place in Cyprus, including 15 informal ministerial councils and one ministerial conference on the safety of offshore activities and Europe’s energy security, for which EU ministers will join ministers from the surrounding region.

Also, around 100 events not organised by the EU presidency but under its auspices will take place in Cyprus.

Around 45,000 visitors in total are expected in Cyprus during the presidency, including those arriving for interrelated cultural events held by NGOs and associations.

21 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

EUpresidency

turbulent waters Or Turkey’s belligerent approach to the Cyprus presidency and its questioning of Cyprus’ right to make use of its energy resources.

Most of the policy priorities for which Cyprus will guide discussions and negotiations are inherited from the existing EU agenda. Cyprus does have its own priorities of course but it remains to be seen whether these will be used to bring nuance to the debate on the inherited agenda or as a springboard for entirely new policies.

Mavroyiannis has said he wants to avoid “unproductive debates” on whether we want to see more or less Europe, a stronger or weaker, wider or deeper Europe.

Instead, the Cyprus presidency will aim to promote the idea of workto owards a ing towards ‘Better Europe’;

which is also its slogan, the idea being to find ways to make citizens feel closer to the union, shining the spotlight on solidarity and the effectiveness of EU policies, while making the EU more relevant in the world.

“We’re not talking about theoretical debates. We’re saying when your house is on fire, you need to improve the situation,” he said.

Earlier this month, the cabinet approved the Cyprus presidency s four main presidency’s policy priorities: to make Europe more efficient and sustain-

able; develop a better performing and growth-based economy; make Europe more relevant to its citizens through solidarity and social cohesion; and, bring Europe closer to its neighbours in the world.

Within each of these priorities lie a host of inherited policy objectives. The issue is how to meet them and where to put the focus on.

Cyprus clearly wants to see the strict austerity measures adopted to clean up member states’ fiscal policies complemented by measures for sustainable economic growth and job stimulation, particularly among the young. The dearth of job Deputy Minister prospects for the EU’s youth for European is having a massive social as Affairs Andreas well as psychological impact Mavroyiannis on the region, particularly for countries like Spain and Greece.

The presidency wants to see the 20th anniversary of the EU’s Single Market welcomed alongside a stronger regulatory framework of financial services to ensure greater market transparency and consumer protection.

It wants to promote measures to improve infrastructure in Europe, and

strengthen economic, social and territorial cohesion.

Cyprus will also focus on the sustainable management of resources, especially water, and re-energise the EU Integrated Maritime Policy.

The Mediterranean island will also use its close ties to the region to enhance relations with Europe’s southern neighbours.

This Wednesday, President Demetris Christofias will officially present the Cyprus presidency’s priorities and programme to the European Parliament (EP) in Strasbourg while his ministers will do the same throughout the month before the EP’s 20 committees. On July 5, the opening ceremony will be held at the ancient Curium amphitheatre.

Taken alone, the above ‘wish list’ for the presidency far supersedes in size, number and importance anything ever seen on a presidential election manifesto.

Let’s hope the brilliance of the shimmering moonlight on the Mediterranean waters facing the Curium will not be the only thing to dazzle our European partners during the next six months.

MINISTRIES’ EU PRIORITIES Agriculture ministry THE agriculture ministry will handle a range of European policy issues concerning environmental policy as well as focusing on the Common Agriculture Policy.

In the field of sustainable management of water resources Cyprus will place priority on the blueprint to safeguard Europe’s water resources, currently being prepared. The presidency will also foster the development of the emission monitoring system, and the inclusion of the sector of emissions and removals from land use.

Labour ministry THE labour ministry will seek to strengthen social cohesion as an integral part of European Union policies defining four key priority areas: measuring the welfare of children, strengthening social integration of seniors and intergenerational solidarity; youth employment, and strengthening participatory processes through the involvement of social partners, the local authorities and NGOs.

Defence ministry THE defence ministry will be hosting meetings with defence ministers and policy directors as well as conducting seminars and events in Cyprus, Paris and Brussels in which the subjects of the Middle East, maritime security and the evolvement of EU military capabilities will be covered.

Health ministry PRIORITIES include raising awareness on organ donation and greater co-ordination between member states on health threats such as H1N1 flu and e-coli.

Education ministry THE education ministry will focus on literacy, cultural governance, quality assurance in higher education, excellence and equity in vocational education and training, and the participation and social integration of young people.

22 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY SU MAIL

EUpresidency

A focus on the past Silver brooches, silk scarves, traditional tipples and bunches of basil are among the official gifts delegates can expect to receive over the next six months

By Natalie Hami HOUSANDS of bags filled with traditional Cypriot goodies have been carefully put together over the last few weeks, to be handed out to top ministers, officials and delegates during the EU presidency.

“Everything is in the bags and ready to hand out,” said Yiannis Nicolaides head of the logistics at the EU presidency secretariat.

Visitors to the island during the presidency can look forward to receiving gifts of silver jewellery inspired by Cyprus’ past, locally designed silk ties and scarves and a bottle of traditional booze, depending on their status.

And in a nod to our agricultural past, all delegates will receive a pungent sachet of home-grown basil.

There are three levels of g y Katerina Econogifts says mou of the logistics unit. The top dogs - ministers and commissioners - will receive deli-

T

cately handmade silver and ceramic items reminiscent of Cyprus’ history. The next rank will be presented with a silk tie or scarf. The basic gift, which all visitors will receive, is a bag which includes pens and USB sticks - all embossed with the EU presidency logo - a small bottle of traditional Commandaria or Zivania, an A4 pad, A5 notepad, and the sachet of basil leaves and seeds. Also provided will be a number of booklets on the island and its history, prepared by the Cyprus Tourism Organisation.

In the six months of the presidency, 35,000 basic gift bags will be handed out, 15,000 ties, 9,000 scarves and 3,500 ‘third level’ gifts for ministers and commissioners. Altogether €600,000 has been spent on publications, gifts and stationery.

The idea of including that most Cypriot of herb - basil - proved something of an p unexpected headache when it was discovered that there would not be enough available to cater for the vast

number of gifts. As all the rest of the gifts are Cypriot made, organisers couldn’t consider importing the herb.

So it was decided a farmer would be enlisted to plant a whole field of basil especially

In the six months of the presidency, 35,000 basic gift bags will be handed out, 15,000 ties, 9,000 scarves and 3,500 ‘third level’ gifts for ministers and commissioners for the p presidency with organisers h holding their breath enou that enough basil would be Th first batch of basil ready. The - enough for around 8,500 sachets - w was delivered to organisers jjust last week to be placed in gift bags ready to be hande handed out.

Nicolaid Nicolaides said there was plen now plenty of basil available with separate batches planted in stages to ensure a constant supply of the herb through throughout the presidency.

Th The silk ties and scar scarves will be pre-

sented to higher level offinagcials, such as general managers and ministers. They have gner been designed by designer Fani Xenophontos, who won the tender a few months ago. lude The ties and scarves include the presidency logo, but also incorporate the colours of at the sea, earth and sun that ordrepresent the island, according to Xenophontos.

“They’re very simple and ntos, elegant,” said Xenophontos, 37, adding that she feels very g her proud to be representing country. Xenophontos is also the designer behind Evi Adamou and her dancers’ costumes for Cyprus’ entry into the Eurovision song contest last May. But the most coveted gifts will be the silver and ceramic items, especially designed by the Cyprus Handicraft Service for the EU bigwigs.

“There are silver brooches, bookmarks and ceramic rom m pa art rtic i uu items inspired ffrom particuces,” said Ag A ni lar ancient pieces,” Agni u, Papaefstathiou, senior ustry offichandicraft industry ce. These er at the service. k to the gifts hark back island’s past depictrom the ing figurines from early Bronze Age to rchaic the Cypro-Archaic period.

“A lot of hard nto work went into m,” making them,” said Papaefs-tathiou, add-ing that they were all handmade.

Gifts include handmade silverware and ceramics (above) and silk ties and scarves

Spruced up taxi drivers to greet EU guests

By Jacqueline Agathocleous OVER the next six months visitors to Cyprus via Larnaca airport are in for a pleasant surprise. The ubiquitous sight of unkempt taxi drivers sporting flip-flops, scruffy shorts and unshaven chins will become relatively rare.

The taxi drivers chosen to transport EU presidency visitors have been told to clean up their image, their cars and, more importantly, keep strictly to the agreed fares.

The spruced up taxis and drivers will join the 48 luxury cars on loan from BMW and 100 buses that have been hired to cover the transport needs of the presidency.

The chauffeur-driven cars will transport state officials and ministers, the buses are for the delegates with the chosen taxis being used during hours that the buses are out of service.

Along with the fixed tariffs and dress code for the drivers, the taxi cabs have been thoroughly checked for cleanliness before being awarded the coveted EU presidency sticker and driver ID that tells visitors they have been approved by the EU secretariat.

The cars have undergone quality checks to make sure they don’t have torn seats or smell of cigarettes, etc.

“But even though they have the stickers, we will have someone at the airport in charge of double-checking the car, in case someone had been smoking inside, for example,” said the head of the secretariat’s logistics unit, Yiannis Nicolaides.

He added that taxis may be needed during the presidency, such as in the case that

someone arrives late at night and there are no buses. There will be two offices at the airport operating for the presidency, one of which will centre on provide transport advice to EU presidency visitors.

There will also be a second lane alongside the usual airport taxi lane, just for the presidency’s delegates.

Fixed prices from the airport to all towns have been agreed with the association, using the average tariff. For example, someone

coming from the airport to Nicosia will pay the same if they are dropped off at the start or end of the capital.

“We have been set some conditions, such as a dress code,” explained Akis Demosthenous, the head of the taxi drivers’ association. “We can’t turn up wearing flip-flops and shorts; we will have to be presentable.”

He said taxi drivers interested in participating have had to apply and have their cars checked by the licensing authority. “We want

Taxi overhaul: regular checks will be carried out to ensure chosen cars are clean

to provide good quality cars,” said Demosthenous. “We need to be presentable, have a clean car and we don’t want to spot any incidents of over-charging.”

Ministers and heads of delegations will be transported to and from the airport in 48 series 5 and 7 BMWs, provided by Haralambous Pilakoutas Ltd, with chauffeurs expected to follow a strict dress code.

A source at the secretariat explained that the deal was for the cars to be given for free for the six-month term and if the state decides to purchase them afterwards, it can. Otherwise the cars have to be returned on the condition that they haven’t exceeded 10,000 km and they haven’t been damaged in any way.

After their arrival in Nicosia top officials as well as delegates will be transported to and from the conference areas, restaurants and excursions via bus.

The buses will be in top condition, with new seats and fully air-conditioned.

A total of 100 buses have been commissioned as part of a joint venture by 14 bus companies.

Representing the companies, Pambos Kapnos said added revenue from the new venture was expected to give the sector a big boost over the summer and autumn.

“There has definitely been a separate investment by our companies to offer the best quality of service, which was provided in the whole procedure,” he explained, adding that only buses that were imported in the past two years - and which have gone through quality checks - will be used. Drivers have been trained on road safety and matters of EU presidency, and will be asked to wear a special uniform.

23 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

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Choice of venue was a political decision ALTHOUGH Curium was chosen for the opening ceremony mostly because of its spectacular setting, the government is also making an important political point.

Cyprus’ six-month EU presidency will be launched on what is technically British rather than Cypriot territory, because Curium is part of Britain’s ‘sovereign base areas’ (SBAs).

Before becoming president four years ago, Demetris Christofias, once described the SBAs as “colonial bloodstains”.

But, like previous presidents, he accepted that with 35,000 Turkish troops still stationed in northern Cyprus, he had no intention of picking a fight with Britain, a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Even so, he recently said Curium was chosen to send both cultural and “political” messages. The latter, effectively, is that whatever Britain says, the amphitheatre is still “the territory of the Cyprus Republic”.

Christofias said at a later stage “naturally we will look at it (the SBAs issue) and say ‘what are the English doing here and holding on to Cyprus Republic territory?’”

When Cyprus gained independence in 1960, the department of antiquities was given control, but not sovereignty, over treasured archaeological sites such as Curium that fall within SBA boundaries.

In terms of the opening ceremony, this thorny issue of sovereignty has caused more than a few headaches when it

Bases and the Republic’s police forces are sharing security arrangements comes to who is in charge of security: the bases or the Cyprus police force. Bases police and the Republic’s have had to work together, but recent press reports suggested the collaboration is not working as well as it should with SBA police, for example, trying to prevent the Republic’s police force from carrying guns.

Sources within the Cypriot police force insisted this week however that both sides were co-operating well.

Armed Cypriot police will be responsible for the safety and security of the visiting dignitaries while British police will take over security of the location both inside and outside the amphitheatre.

Police spokesman Andreas Angelides said that they could not release any figures on police officers to be used on the night as it was “a matter of security”.

However the Sunday Mail learned that Cypriot police would be providing just

over 200 officers and the SBA would be providing around 200.

A series of rather bizarre ironies also surround the choice of venue. The official launch of the EU presidency is taking place on territory that is not actually within the EU. Although an EU member, Britain ensured its SBAs were excluded from the EU when Cyprus joined in 2004.

London views the SBAs as vital to Britain’s long-term security interests, and did not want its European partners having any chance of interfering in their operations.

Yet Britain has made compromises necessitated by expediency. The SBAs joined Cyprus in adopting the euro in January 2008, even though Britain has resolutely shunned the troubled common currency. The measure was taken for the shopping convenience of the 4,000 servicemen and their 7,000 dependents.

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EU guests of honour include President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso (left) and president of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy

A Curium spectacular Official launch of EU presidency takes place under the stars

By Natalie Hami HE HISTORIC theatre at Curium, one of the island’s most spectacular archaeological treasures, has seen many a tragedy and comedy performance as well as gladiator fights through the ages. It will once again become the focal point on July 5 for the opening ceremony of Cyprus’ takeover of the EU presidency.

Small cushions emblazoned with the presidency logo to ensure the comfort of the VVIPS, deputies, diplomats and ministers on Curium’s notoriously stony steps are just some of the special touches incorporated into the plans to ensure that the exclusive night is one to remember.

“They’ll have another use too but that’s

T

a surprise,” said Elena Stavrou, part of the logistics unit at the Cyprus EU presidency secretariat.

Musical interludes, dancing and a beautiful setting by the ocean are just some of the things that the 500 guests have to look forward to.

The most important monuments at Curium not only include the grand Greco-Roman theatre but also well-preserved mosaics, public baths, the necropolis, the House of Gladiators and the House of Achilles. The theatre is still used for outdoor musical and theatre performances and is one of the venues for the International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama.

The earliest evidence of settlement in the broader area of Curium dates to the Neolithic period (4500-3900 BC), while the most an-

PRESIDENCY IN NUMBERS €61.7 million for the whole presidency covering the period between 2011-2013 €23 million for renovations of the conference centre at Philoxenia and creation of a press centre €4 million for management of the conference centre, including catering and other services. €1 million for communications and promotion of Cyprus abroad. €1.7 million for cultural events

The Philoxenia after its €23 million makeover

€600,000 for publications, gifts and stationery 500 people attending

opening ceremony Two police forces providing security 15,000 silk ties, 9,000 silk scarves and 3,500 hand crafted silver brooches and ceramics for gifts (inset) A total of 100 buses and 48 luxury series 5 and 7 BMWs for transporting officials and delegates

cient remains in the area of the ancient city itself are connected with settlements and tombs of the Middle and Late Bronze Age. Stavrou revealed that a select 500 people will be attending the ceremony near Episkopi including, President Demetris Christofias, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the Danish Prime Minister Helle ThorningSchmidt, president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and president of the European Parliament Martin Schulz.

Top officials will arrive in style, in BMW luxury cars while everyone else will be transported to Curium by bus from all of the main cities to ensure that they arrive on time.

Apart from top ranking officials, various ministers, all members of parliament and foreign diplomats will be invited too.

The dress code will be ‘smart-casual with comfortable shoes’, as despite the grandeur of the event, Stavrou explained that they want guests to feel comfortable without the inconvenience of a jacket in the Cyprus heat.

Organisers also want their guests to be able to manoeuvre the steep steps of the ancient theatre and thus thought comfortable shoes would be the better option for the evening.

The theatre at Curium seats 1000 easily but the numbers for the ceremony are being kept at a more modest 500 – Denmark’s opening ceremony had fewer at 400 – as the

organisers want to keep it a closed, exclusive affair. “It’s not something that you open up very much that’s why we didn’t go with more people,” said Stavrou. However, she said that the state broadcaster will be covering the event for those that want to watch it.

The evening will kick off at 8pm sharp, according to Stavrou, with a two-part cultural programme.

The first part will include three-minute speeches from President Christofias and from top officials such as Barroso and Schulz along with several musical interludes by the Cyprus Symphonic Orchestra.

The second part will involve more music as well as dancing, and a short video of shots of the island will be shown to the guests.

The cultural programme will end at 9.30pm to be followed by a reception until 11.30pm still on the grounds of Curium, but this time above the theatre, where Stavrou said renovations have been taking place of late in preparation for the ceremony.

The reception will have an open feel about it without a ‘strict seating arrangement’ encouraging ministers, top officials and Cypriot deputies to mingle with ease in the beautiful setting.

The night will come to an end by 11.30pm with the VIPS filing out first, to be whisked away in their limos, followed by everyone else.

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Communications chief hopes our stint at the top can transform the civil service

By Elias Hazou IRECTOR of the Press and Information Office (PIO) Eleonora Gavrielides has had a hectic schedule since the agency was put in charge of the Cypriot presidency’s communication strategy.

On occasion she puts in 16-hour days.

“The other day, I started work at 8am and went home after midnight. So much for lethargic civil servants, eh?” she tells the Sunday Mail.

The PIO was given charge of communications strategy in October 2011, following a decision by Deputy Minister for European Affairs Andreas Mavroyiannis.

Initially, the (former) head of the secretariat of the Cypriot EU presidency Andreas Moleskis wanted the secretariat to take charge of the presidency’s communications strategy, and did not want the PIO involved. But that all changed once Andreas Mavroyiannis was appointed Deputy Minister for European Affairs. He insisted that the PIO take charge of this aspect.

“I think that was a wise move,” comments Gavrielides. “Having the secretariat involved would simply result in duplication of many activities, thereby wasting time and resources.”

Once that decision was made, Gavrielides was at the helm of a media offensive - writing articles in the press, appearing on TV shows - trying to convince about the need for a communications policy.

On the PR level, Gavrielides says the aim is to educate people about EU-wide policies and debates: “We’re trying to show that a lot of issues are not confined to Cyprus. Take migration.

Many people here think that Cyprus treats migrants and asylum seekers differently, and that only Cyprus is dealing with this phenomenon. We want to show that it’s a challenge faced by all Europe, and that the treatment of migrants is governed by EU regulations, that is, Cyprus is not doing its own thing.”

They have prepared a series of spot ads, 30 seconds in length, where usually young people pose a simple question. The question invariably leads to an answer showing how the EU impacts our everyday lives, thereby giving viewers some basic info on what the EU is and what it does.

Tough times means the PIO is operating on a shoestring budget. Initially it was allocated €1 million, later cut down to around €800,000. The total budget set aside for the presidency comes to some €61 million.

“It’s a no-frills campaign. I guess you could sum it up with the motto: ‘stick to the basics, be accurate’,” says Gavrielides.

The design of the website reflects this.

While the portal features all the fundamental technical gimmickry - video streaming, video-on-demand - it won’t go overboard with bells and whistles.

Users can also subscribe and receive emails on what’s going on during the presidency as well as receiving newsletters.

“The website, but also the press centre at the Filoxenia hotel, will provide media people with enough tools and information for them to do their job,” says Gavrielides.

The template for the website has been largely based on that used by the Danes during their presidency.

And Turkish has been included in the working languages on the presidency’s website.

The website features five languages: Greek, English, French, German and Turkish.

Posts on the website will first be published in English (and in Greek simultaneously, where possible), and then in the rest of the languages.

“Actually, now that we are in the final countdown, I’ve started to calm down a bit,” Gavrielides says, skipping to another subject. “I figure, we’ve prepared as best we could, now let’s move into the implementation stage.”

It is not just Gavrielides who is putting in extra hours at the office. The rest of the staff at the PIO are doing the same. So how do you get heavily unionised and entrenched civil servants to put in the extra mileage and to forego overtime pay?

“I was honest with them. We gathered our people around, and I told them flat-out: listen, there won’t be any extra compensation.

This is a great, once-in-a-lifetime project we are involved in. For those of you who want to work extra, great. For those who don’t, that’s fine too. It’s up to you.

“And you know what? Gradually almost all the staff came on board. Of course, there was some grumbling. Some of them asked whether they would be getting time off next year, after the presidency, for the extra hours they

D

Eleonora Gavrielides has been putting in 16-hour days in the run up to the start of the presidency (Christos Theodorides)

The presidency’s steam-roller would be putting in these six months.

So I told them: ‘I won’t lie to you: do you realistically expect that you will get leave for all those hours accrued?

How would the roster work?’

“If you give people an incentive, make them excited about their work, they will go the extra mile. Yes, yes, even civil servants,” Gavrielides says teasingly, fully aware of the public’s perception of government workers.

Yet even Gavrielides, who casually describes herself as a “steamroller”, does not always get her way. Initially, she had asked to hire reporters to do the reporting on the presidency’s activities. She wanted experienced journalists who would be able to type something up quickly and hammer out an accurate copy. That would save time, because getting a story out The presidency website based on that used by the quickly is of the essence. will have long-term effects, not just on the “I went to the MPs and asked for the ex- PIO but the whole of the civil service. tra funds for qualified reporters. I remember “In Cyprus, we have no culture of teamthere were some intense arguments with work, as a society and particularly when deputies, especially with DISY’s Averof Ne- it comes to the civil service. We just don’t ofytou, who was adamantly against this. In know how to ask for help. But the needs of the end, we were told to hire a group of civil the presidency have forced us all to work as servants and train them in the art of report- a team. Now, for example, whenever I need ing.” something from another ministry or departThe campaign team currently comprises ment, I know who’s in charge of what at the about 60 people - five of whom have been ministries because we deal with people from temporarily reassigned to the PIO from oth- other departments all the time. I call that er government departments. person up, and we get the job done between The Cypriot presidency will have three us. Previously, I would have to get my boss spokespeople: two based in Brussels (Mari- to call his ministry’s permanent secretary anna Karagiorgi and Nikos Christodoulides) and so forth. We work much faster now.” and one in Cyprus (Costas Yennaris). Only But Gavrielides has larger plans for the PIO these three people will be quotable, except that go beyond the confines of the six-month in cases where government ministers make presidency. She wants to make the agency a direct statements to the media after a presi- semi-autonomous department, much like dency function or meeting. the auditor-general’s office- with its own The three spokespeople will get their line budget, without having to go through the from the government, that is to say, govern- relevant ministry (interior) for everything. ment spokesman Stefanos Stefanou, MavShe actually tried to push this through in royiannis, Gavrielides, and from the minis- the recent past, but some of the employees ters relevant to the subject. became concerned that making the PIO auGavrielides believes - or hopes - that the tonomous would result in them relinquishexperience from running the EU presidency ing some of their rights as civil servants. A

union-sponsored vote was organised, and the idea was quashed.

But the energetic Gavrielides is not one to give up: “Perhaps there was not enough time to explain what this move entailed. We’ll take another shot at it later.”

She recalls that, from the outset, a decision was made to keep the Cyprus problem out of the PR campaign.

“I could just picture in my head all the newsmen in Europe waiting in the wings for us to start sermonising about the Cyprus issue.

We understood that, given Cyprus’ role as an honest broker, there was no room for propaganda. It would just have damaged our credibility, so the choice to keep away from Danes the Cyprus problem was a nobrainer.”

Similarly, no attempt would be made to discourage the foreign press from visiting the north. “Knowing journalists, that would have backfired,” says Gavrielides. “If you try to stop someone from doing something, they get even more curious and will end up doing it anyway.”

For her, the mark of success of the PR campaign will be measured first and foremost by the traffic on the website.

What about glitches?

“Inevitably, there are going to be problems.

That’s been the case for all EU presidencies so far. For example we expect attempts at hacking, be it from Anonymous or from Turkish hackers, and are taking steps to deal with this.

And the stakes?

“At the end of the day,” says Gavrielides, “I hope Cyprus will show itself to be a modern state, overturning some of the stereotypes surrounding our country. There’s a lot of hard work ahead, and July especially is going to be crazy.”

For the Cyprus EU presidency website click on www.Cy2012.eu

27 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

Exclusive design, breathtaking sea view

EUpresidency

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28 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

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Getting Joe Public to care The daunting task of stimulating public interest in the EU

By Stefanos Evripidou HEN I told my editor that I was going to give a talk on the role of mass media in the EU presidency and how to stimulate public interest, her immediate response was “it’s impossible”.

She followed it up with a somewhat wordier though no less disheartening comment: “The EU’s like Prometheus isn’t it, the champion of mankind who steals fire from the heavens only to have his liver eaten every day.”

And in a sense, I see her point.

This grand project, brought to life by real visionaries has brought peace and stability to a blood-crazed continent.

And yet, not a day goes by when it doesn’t get eaten alive in the press, on some blog, down at the local cafe bar, or in a national parliament.

And if the negative rhetoric, clever distortions and outright attacks don’t succeed in pecking away at the brittle EU bone, the whole project still runs the risk of being crushed by the sheer volume of public apathy.

So, we can’t really have this discussion without first asking why does the EU seem to get either no press or bad press?

European citizens are always interested in the bottom line. They want to know ‘how will this impact on my daily life and more importantly my pocket’, and to take it a step further, they want to know, ‘when will it affect me?’

People care a lot about today and much less about next year or the year after when some law they have heard no prior debate on, had no national politician pontificating on, will come into effect.

So, while it is true the EU does have a massive impact on people’s daily lives, from the much-reported cucumbers to the less-trumpeted yet hugely beneficial roaming charges, the public and by extension the media, or vice-versa, are not that interested because a lot of the laws passed do not come into effect until much later down the line, and are proposed and agreed upon by unrecognisable figures that have little to no relationship with their constituents.

I mean how many Europe-

W

ans can name three EU Commissioners? Or two or one?

Co-decision has given a huge breath of fresh air and energy to the European Parliament but candidate MEPs still find it extremely hard to run election campaigns on relevant issues that actually resonate with their public?

The disconnect between the public and Brussels is further widened by the abject jargon adopted and convoluted procedures followed.

We’re supposed to get excited because in the coming months Cyprus will be hosting a ‘gymnich’? (sounds like some kind of garden furniture). As opposed to the more formal FAC (Foreign Affairs Council), not to be confused with the GAC (General Affairs Council), which we get to chair.

There is a strong argument to be made that EU procedures are much more transparent than in many member states. Decisions are instantly accessible online. There is a clear flowchart you can follow to see the compartmentalisation of the process, how a decision is born and what path it follows to reach fruition, but it’s still extremely complicated to the public.

And we still can’t get inside those COREPER (Committee of Permanent Representatives) doors, while the Commission is reluctant to

A well attended Europe Day in May, but generating public interest is generally an uphill battle

replaced them with relative unknowns Ashton and Van Rompuy. It gave us the European Council and the Council of the EU. Before, when a member state had the rotating presidency, for six months at least, they were recognisable and accountable to their public for decisions taken at an EU level. This is less so now.

In any case, what we do have is a multitude of overlapping and highly complex institu-

The disconnect between the public and Brussels is further widened by the abject jargon adopted and convoluted procedures followed acknowledge the true extent of Council influence on legal initiatives.

One EU expert recently joked at a seminar here that every time you ask the public a question, you get the wrong answer. Hence, the repeat referenda and Lisbon Treaty.

Ironically, the Lisbon Treaty which was meant to simplify and streamline procedures, in some respects made it even harder to stimulate public interest. It took away ‘our’ foreign minister and ‘our’ prime minister or president and

tions that we, the press, don’t really understand, which are churning out a truckload of decisions that we don’t know how to localise in the interests of our audience. And we certainly don’t have the resources, particularly at this juncture, to find ways to bring Brussels closer which we should, because it really does have a substantial impact on our lives. When you throw the presidency in to the mix, it gets a tad more dense.

Despite its impenetrability, the EU certainly has not suf-

fered from a lack of coverage since the economic and financial crisis arrived.

The ongoing crisis has seen the EU and its institutions discussed and explained by the mainstream media more than ever before.

On Cyprus television, each Eurogroup meeting or summit session on the crisis is reported with the obligatory background horror music and headline of a “Thriller Encounter” between the heads of state and government or finance ministers, if such a thing is possible.

From a purely PR perspective, the EU has failed abysmally to enhance its image, specifically with regard to its role in crisis management, while the monetary union itself is seen as the cause of the crisis.

Cyprus is a small country, so there will be some local interest in its presidency. It will assume the EU presidency at a time when Europe faces massive problems, rising unemployment, particularly among the young, harsh austerity measures, stifled efforts to stimulate growth, a currency crisis, growing euroscepticism, social upheaval, migration challenges, rising extremism, and a southern neighbourhood effectively in turmoil. A separate chapter is Turkey’s EU accession negotiations and of course, the unresolved Cyprus problem, which the government is at pains to stress it won’t use as

a stick to beat Turkey.

The EU presidency provides a chance for a member state to shine in the sun for six months. It’s a springboard to generate interest but for most people, it’s just a roadshow.

Officials come to town, hold conferences and leave, while Nicosia is left with resurfaced roads and newly planted flowers lining the streets.

As for the rest of Europe, a successful presidency rarely gets much coverage outside of the host country. Who in Cyprus knows anything about the Belgian presidency for example, whose civil servants managed to accomplish without a government?

We only hear about a presidency when it goes bad. When it’s badly organised and inappropriate policy initiatives fall flat in the sand.

One of the main challenges for the government is how to get its message across.

There will be some really important issues on the table, from the economy to climate change and a Common European Asylum System. Most media will probably take a large detour around the Multiannual Financial Framework, it’s not very user-friendly.

In Cyprus at least, one of the general problems we have as a public is to associate the lofty ideas discussed and then adopted at a European level with what happens in practice on the ground.

Take the common asylum system for example. In a few

EU meetings leave the public cold (left) while for many the EU presidency means little more than a revamped Nicosia

days, we’ll be leading that effort to get it in the bag by the end of 2012 while just last week Amnesty International released a damning report on our handling of asylum and migration issues.

This highlights the discord between passing laws and implementing them. Just one example, the Cyprus Mail has in the past reported on a situation where a poorly EU national was entitled to health care but could not access it because civil servants sitting in their offices were not fully updated on the EU laws that Cyprus has adopted.

The Cyprus presidency’s motto is a “Better Europe” that is closer to its people.

Just a few days ago, my flatmate who moved from Greece to find a job here was told by his boss after two months in the job that the company was downsizing and he would have to leave, immediately. He’s 29 and will go back to Greece where many others his age are also unemployed. As they are here, in Spain and elsewhere.

Ultimately, unless small Cyprus and the EU find ways to restore hope and prospects to the people of Europe, especially the younger generations, then there is no point of talking about a better Europe.

In the coming months in Cyprus, we will likely hear more about Eurogroup meetings and the economic crisis, about how EU workers are taking our jobs, and probably something about Turkey. We will not hear about Cypriots with jobs in European countries, youth exchange programmes, Erasmus students, and the primary school in Paphos with close ties to schools in Sweden and France.

The EU is so very much a part of our daily life, but is at serious risk of being taken for granted.

Taken from a speech given

by Stefanos Evripidou to the European Parliament Communications Seminar on the EU Presidency in Limassol on June 22. The full text can be viewed on the Cyprus Mail website: www.cyprusmail.com

29 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

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The EU presidency on the streets The Sunday Mail asked a variety of age groups and professions three questions: What is the presidency of the Council of the EU? What do you think Cyprus will have to do during the six-month rotating presidency?

How important is it to you that Cyprus is taking over the presidency?

Giorgos Demetriou, 53, shopkeeper “I know kind of what the presidency is.”

“I know about the committees but I don’t know details” “I know it’ll be for our own good”

Christos Papapavlou, 31, clothes shop owner “Of course I know what it is” “There will be conferences that they will chair but I don’t know exactly” “As a citizen I don’t know if it will affect me, but I think it will help”

Stamatis Skianis, 20, management student “It will be procedures of the EU parliament that will take place and the presidency will be the test”.

“We chair the meetings during the presidency”

“As a citizen and as an EU citizen it’s important, as the activities of the presidency will affect Cyprus.”

Kabul Rana

Stalo Chrysostomou, 62, works at a coffeeshop

Andreas Malakounides, 71, retired designer,

“There’s a president and he goes in to chair the EU” “It won’t impact me but it’s something good”

Yiannis Papaphilippou, 44, bookshop owner “They have their council” “They have conferences and it gives us good will during the time we have the presidency. Naturally it will bring money in too” “It’s not important to me but it is in terms of the community we live it”

Costas Kokkalis, 51, customs officer at Ledra street check point “Yes I do know” “They hold meetings at different levels, at lower levels too and there’s a Cypriot representative who will chair at these levels.”

“It’s very important for me as a citizen, for our country and for me as an employee”

Kabul Rana, 24, travel and tourism student Stamatis Skianis

Florian Frank

“I’m new here so I’m not very familiar but I know they’re taking it over”

Andreas Malakounides “I don’t know the policies that are going to happen” “It’s important because I think the problem of student unemployment might be solved”

“The presidency rotates on a five year basis, I think, and European leaders visit the country as well as high ranking officials and discuss problems and how to tackle them.”

“During the presidency Cyprus needs to sort out some defence protocols which haven’t been signed. “And also, other problems are that they can’t get any money.”

“Cyprus should have got money from the EU – are we or are we not a member state? But they discuss this among themselves, they don’t tell us.”

Florian Frank, 64, German lawyer

“I’ll be damned if I know.”

“I particularly dislike Europe; the financial crisis is an artificial construction of the EU.”

“I don’t know exactly what the presidency is but it s on a six-month basis when Cyprus will preside over the council of chiefs and they meet once in a while but the council cannot decide anything.”

“The presidency emphasises that small countries have a say in the union and it’s necessary to have the presidencies so that each country, small and big, can contribute their own ideas.”

Teenagers Branco, 17, and David, 16,

Andreas Aloupas, 70, watchmaker

Were both unable to answer any of the questions

“The only thing I understand is that we’ve lost our livelihood.”

Michalis Andreou, a 62-year-old lottery ticket seller

30 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY SU UN ND DAY AY MAIL

EUpresidency

Ancient and modern: culture and the EU presidency

By Zoe Christodoulides ROM THE Brussels metro to the highly revered Louvre in Paris, Cyprus cultural heritage is taking a serious step into the limelight for the next six months.

As the island takes over the EU presidency, much effort has been placed on organising events that shed light on the glories of the island, from the swirling mists of the ancient past, to the world of fast paced contemporary creativity.

In total, approximately 160 events will give locals and visitors a real taste of Cypriot culture. But while the cultural life on the island will certainly receive a substantial boost, the most impressive events appear to be taking place abroad.

Anyone who takes a walk around Brussels today will be struck by a great number of posters boasting images of crusaders as an exhibition entices crowds into the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts. The exhibition aims at presenting Cyprus through important historical moments, dating back to the times of the Crusades all the way through the present day.

“This is one of the most important events on all the agenda taking place in the heart of Europe,” says Michellina Stavrinou, member of the secretariat for the EU presidency working on the cultural agenda logistics unit. “It documents our colourful civilisation from ancient times until today.”

While placing attention on the diachronic significance

F

Cypriot names. The Bozar webpage succinctly captures the feel of the occasion: “As the inheritors of a fragmented geopolitical space, these artists are relentlessly questioning notions of territory, identity and frontiers.”

The Cyprus Department of Antiquities has also been knee deep in preparations, organising a number of events within the framework of the presidency that will give foreign crowds across Europe the chance to get to grips with our island’s heritage.

Most notably, the Louvre Museum in Paris will be hosting an exhibition in October aptly named ‘Medieval Cyprus’.

The exhibition includes important objects from the paleochristian period until the end of the Venetian period, all taken from numerous museums in Cyprus and France.

Age old Cypriot treasures will also be leaving their mark in Rome at the Palazzo del Quirinal from October

Work by Andreas Savva place in Beijing in October will introduce all of the Mediterranean traditions to the Chinese public with a parallel exhibition running alongside the event.

With so much to co-ordinate, organisation has been no easy task. Planning for all the events started back in 2010 when proposals were submitted. “We had a load of proposals to sort through and it was particularly hard to co-ordinate all the funding,” explains Stavrinou.

While the total government expenditure for all EU presi-

There will definitely be something for everyone to enjoy through to January in an exhibit named ‘Aphrodite, Goddess of the Mediterranean.’

The occasion will see objects from museums of Cyprus on show which depict the nature of the worship of Aphrodite throughout the times.

But it’s not just countries within Europe that will promoting local culture, as celebrations will also be taking

dency cultural events has amounted to €1,724,000, the amount was restricted from a larger budget agreed upon a few years ago which was no longer feasible due to the current recession. All money for the organisation of events has been derived from a central government budget with no external EU funding received.

At a ground roots level, every event is part local government funded and partly funded by the artists and organisations taking part which depend on private sponsorship for the large part.

The exhibition in Brussel’s Bozar Centre stands as the most expensive cultural event on the whole six month

Thoc production

agenda amounting to €400,000.

As for the selection criteria for all the events, a projection of local culture and history topped the list. “We were very interested in things that present Cyprus culture in some way, that deal with heritage, social consciousness, culture or the environment.

There will definitely be something for everyone to enjoy,” said Stavrinou.

While the presidency is certainly boosting the cultural life of the island, it can hardly go unnoticed that some local events have just been repackaged for the presidency and appear to be little different to what audiences have experienced in previous years. The list of the usual annual events is a long one and includes the Ancient Greek Drama Festival, the Summer Contemporary Dance Festival, the Limassol Documentary Festival and the much publicised Kypria Festival.

But there are some rather unique occasions thrown in for good measure. Interestingly enough, there seems to be a great deal of attention placed on local bread-making with a number of events focusing on the creation of traditional bread as an art form.

“Bread is something which is very important to many cultures and here in Cyprus it holds a particular importance with locals creating different types of bread for social and

Works by Melita Couta (left) and Pempe Mentesh at the House of Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios in Nicosia of the island’s geographical location, Byzantine and post Byzantine art takes centre stage.

“The events abroad are aimed at showing our ancient past and cultural heritage.

But we don’t want to remain stuck in the past,” adds Stavrinou. As such, the exhibit also sheds light on the island’s contemporary artistic scene with modern works on show by various well known

place in the far flung corners of the globe, with events coorganised by the various diplomatic missions in the relevant countries.

From symposiums and seminars on the archaeology of ancient Cyprus, to events focused on our island’s culinary delights, countries including America, Australia and China will be taking part in all the festivities. A ‘Cyprus Culture and Cuisine’ week taking

Details of all upcoming cultural events can be found on Cyprus’ EU presidency website: www.cy2012.eu

Work by Socratis Socratous at the Old Power House

religious occasions. It has truly become a work of art,” points out Stavrinou.

As for the major highlights of the local art scene, a large scale exhibition soon to open up at the Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre (Old Power House) is set to become the talk of the town. Going by the name of ‘Terra Mediterranea/

Work from the Bozar exhibition (above) and by Orestis Lambrou (below)

Peter Eramian for the exhibition at the Old Power House

Sumer Erek at the Old Power House

In Crisis’ and opening up this coming Wednesday, the exhibit curated by Yiannis Toumazis will remain open for the whole six month period of the presidency. Bringing together 41 dynamic artists from Cyprus and surrounding countries, they each reflect on today’s universal economic, political, religious and social landscape while also addressing a deeply existential crisis of identity.

Running alongside this exhibit, will be a second contemporary art exhibition named ‘At Maroudia’s’ housed within the Ethnological Museum- House of Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios.

Curated by the Re Aphrodite team, the group focuses on issues of art and difference.

With 28 participating artists,

the event deals with the unwritten feminine histories of Cyprus and their private and public structure. It makes use of the layered history of the house to challenge old myths and narratives and develop new ones, while reflecting on a number of real and perceived crises, touching upon social, educational and ethical concerns around sexuality, gender issues and conflicts. An educational and academic programme has been developed to accompany the two exhibitions while the project also includes a special edition of the journal The Cyprus Dossier, topped off by a monthly series of social and culinary events running alongside a number of interventions in public spaces.

31 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

Business & Jobs

A living will for banks US banks must show how to close safely in case they fail

JPMorgan Chase & Co are among the top US banks which have to file plans under provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law designed to end too-big-to-fail bailouts by the government

By David Henry and Dave Clarke IVE of the biggest banks in the United States are putting finishing touches on plans for going out of business as part of government-mandated contingency planning that could push them to untangle their complex operations.

The plans, known as living wills, were due to regulators no later than today under provisions of the DoddFrank financial reform law designed to end too-big-to-fail bailouts by the government. The living wills could be as long as 4,000 pages.

Since the law allows regulators to go so far as to order a bank to divest subsidiaries if it cannot plan an orderly resolution in bankruptcy, the deadline is pushing even healthy institutions to start a multi-year process to untangle their complex global operations, according to industry consultants.

“The resolution process is now going to be part of the cost-benefit analysis on where banks will do business,” said Dan Ryan, leader of the financial services regulatory practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York. “The complexity of the organisations will shrink.”

JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc, Goldman Sachs & Co and Morgan Stanley are among those submitting the first liquidation scenarios to regulators at the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, according to people familiar with the matter.

The five firms, which declined to discuss their plans for this story, have some of the biggest balance sheets, trading desks and derivatives portfolios of financial institutions in the United States.

Great Britain and other major countries are imposing similar requirements for “resolution” plans on

F

their big banks, too.

The liquidation plans are coming amid renewed questions about the safety of big banks following JPMorgan’s stunning announcement last month that a trading debacle has cost it more than $2 billion - a sum far too small to endanger the bank, but shocking enough to bring back memories of the financial crisis.

If the extensive planning and review process works as proponents hope, big banks will become less hazardous to the public and regulators will be more confident that they can let wounded institutions die without wrecking the economy.

In congressional hearings earlier this month, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said that the bank’s contingency plan for going out of business would let it fail without cost to taxpayers. Living wills reduce the systemic risk of a big bank failing, Dimon said.

The living will requirement could actually yield similar results to restoring Glass-Steagall without actual re-enactment of the Depressionera laws separating commercial banking from investment banking, former FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair told Reuters TV earlier this month.

Bair said regulators may determine

that for a liquidation plan to work, a bank must separate traditional banking and insured deposits into subsidiaries set apart from volatile securities trading and securities underwriting.

The rules push banks to untangle their complex structures, which can include thousands of legal entities, and which, in Bair’s opinion, have effectively blocked proposals for breaking up the corporations.

Whether the Fed and the FDIC would actually force any banks to sell businesses or cordon off insured deposits remains to be seen, cautioned Richard Herring, a banking professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

“We don’t know if they will have the guts to do it, but the tools are there,” said Herring, a leading proponent of living wills for more than a decade, who was appointed to an FDIC advisory panel on the plans.

Herring worries, too, that the plans will be so long and complex that they will overwhelm the staff at the agencies.

Still, that the plans are being written at all is progress, Herring said.

Under the Dodd-Frank Act, banks and regulators must imagine liquidations in two different ways. The

first is through bankruptcy courts with banks negotiating with their creditors. This is the going-out-ofbusiness method planned in the living wills due today. The living wills must include how subsidiaries in foreign jurisdictions will be liquidated.

The second way is through a new kind of liquidation process in which the FDIC takes control of putting a financial giant down. This method has more flexibility than is allowed in bankruptcy courts, but still uses critical information collected in the banks’ living wills, such as where exactly to find collateral.

The new rules stagger deadlines for the banks to file plans, depending on their size and complexity.

Nine banks will file first, including five based in the United States and four owned abroad. Regulators have declined to name the nine banks included in the first round.

Other large banks will have until July and December of next year to hand in their plans, according to the FDIC. Eventually about 124 banks are expected to submit plans, according to the FDIC. There are about 7,300 banks in the United States.

Regulators and the big banks have been meeting since January on what the plans are expected to include.

Fed and FDIC officials have said they expect the back-and-forth to continue once the plans have been submitted. The rules give the banks a series of chances to refine their plans. But if banks cannot come up with feasible liquidation plans, regulators could order the banks to get rid of businesses.

Government intervention is a last resort, said John Simonson, the FDIC’s deputy director of Systemic Resolution Planning and Implementation in the Office of Complex Financial Institutions.

“I think a lot of progress can be made in having these firms make themselves more resolvable before you get to that point of actually imposing those severe remedies,” Simonson said.

The regulators will want to see evidence that the banks can safely resolve their debts and transfer vital customer services and assets to healthy institutions.

The plans could easily be 2,000 or 4,000 pages long, depending on the complexity of the banks, said Ryan of PricewaterhouseCoopers. The plans include “very granular detail” about bank operations, he noted, adding that “in many cases, this is a large documentation exercise.”

The ‘United States of Europe’ merely a few treaties away THE SUMMER is a boring time in the market, even when there are crises everywhere. World markets have already experienced a ‘summer slump’ and in Europe and the US there has been a nice recovery.

The question remains, will there be another slump in a few weeks’ time? For another slump to occur, Europe will have to go into another tail spin. This is precisely what will happen if Germany breaks the general bailout consensus that seems to have been reached by other nations.

Under the aforementioned consensus, the system would be bailed out out a little, each time bond markets began to close out a country

Comment Clem Chambers like Italy or Spain from financing. We will soon know the outcome and whether a second summer slump is in store. Yet while the press continues to scream out for an all-encompassing euro crisis ‘quick-fix’, Europe itself is dragging the process out, thereby hammering out the political union it needs to progress the federalist dream of a USE, or ‘United States of Europe’.

This is now just a few treaties away. If the price for this dream becoming a reality for the first time since

the days of Attila the Hun is a few bank failures and some rioting, it will be nothing compared with the cost others have spent in failed attempts.

The EU was founded to weld a political entity that would not spin off into terrible war every 50 years.

While the cost of the EU crisis might seem dramatic, it’s not really, not compared to the ‘real’ crisis those sat glued to radios in the late 1930’s on the brink of WWII experienced.

The politicians of Europe will grind through the currency crisis to unify Europe and until all the necessary paperwork is signed for deep fiscal unification; only temporary bandages will be

applied. Of course, there will be Eurobonds when the EU turns into the United States of Europe. Of course Germany won’t bail-out an independent Greece and let Athens live off the taxpayer of Frankfurt.

It is not that Germany believes the poor should not live off the rich. That is the basis of a social state and Germany is very much a state that re-distributes wealth from the successful to the unsuccessful.

It is that Germany and Greece are not yet unified that stops this process.

This unification is going to take a lot of time. Only the economic terror of a public sector and its pensions being scythed down by the

devaluation of a euro exit will force the transition. The next ‘sub-crisis’ in Europe will be France. Once Spain and Italy are stabilised, which will be in two or three more bail-out moves, it will be the turn of France.

It will be the same old story again. Banks will need bailing so they can buy the country’s bonds, so the nation can lend them some back, which, in turn, the European Central Bank (ECB) can swap for some euromoney.

The market will swoon, lots of politicians will grandstand, convoluted central planning manoeuvres will take place, French interest rates will be stabilised at 6%.

By this time, fiscal treaties

will be due to be signed. Certain key sovereign prerogatives will have been ceded to the EU and the core of Europe will be on the verge of federation. Small, non-Euro denominated countries may well join in, while countries like the UK will stay out.

In the end, by the time this process is complete, the US will be experiencing its own debt crisis and the final leg of the ‘Second Great Depression’ will be in play. This would appear to be many years hence. Who knows what state the world economy will be in then?

Clem’s latest news and articles at www.clemchambers.com Follow Clem on Twitter: @ClemChambers

32 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Business & Jobs

The Swiss tax agreements are a possible template for the future Collecting taxes on assets hidden in Switzerland Investment Bill Blevins Bill Blevins is managing director of Blevins Franks International. Tel: 26-912315 Following on from Switzerland’s bi-lateral tax agreements with the UK and Germany, it has now agreed a similar deal with Austria and started discussions with Italy and Greece. It looks increasingly likely that this withholding tax model will be the way forward to collect taxes on assets hidden in Switzerland.

These agreements provide for the collection of both past unpaid tax on undeclared assets and tax on future earnings. They fulfil two seemingly paradoxical objectives:the British/German/Austrian governments receive the tax due to them, while Switzerland gets to keep its prized banking secrecy.

This withholding tax concept was initially formulated by the Association of Foreign Banks in Switzerland to protect Swiss banking secrecy against international moves towards automatic exchange of information.

The main components of the treaties are: (1) A retrospective one-off levy to be applied immediately, to cover past unpaid tax. For UK taxpayers this will be between 21 per cent and 41 per cent of the value of the assets, depending on the type of asset, how long the account has been open and the amount of capital.

(2) A withholding tax to be applied on all future income. For UK tax residents, interest will be taxed at 48 per cent; dividends at 40 per cent and capital gains at 27 per cent.

(3) Inheritance tax. When the

Many people across Europe and beyond with undisclosed assets in Switzerland could be in for a shock holder of an undisclosed Swiss bank account dies, 40 per cent will be deducted and paid to the UK treasury.

These withholding taxes will not be applied if the owner authorises his bank to disclose the assets to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

(4) Information requests. A set number can be submitted to the Swiss authorities each year and Swiss banks will be obliged to re-

spond.

The Swiss government is keen to reach similar tax agreements with other countries. The more countries which sign similar agreements, the fewer which will push for automatic exchange of information.

These agreements have however met with criticism in countries like France (though this may change with the new government). Critics complain that since tax evaders re-

main anonymous, they are being allowed to get away with their crime.

Nonetheless, tax dodgers will not be happy with the new rules at all - they could lose more than a third of their Swiss assets when the retrospective tax is deducted. In future withholding taxes will increase to rates equivalent to the top rates of tax.

In the UK, HMRC views its deal as a “pragmatic solution to a seeming-

ly intractable problem”. It acknowledged that Swiss secrecy will be around for at least another 10 years and so in the meantime HMRC can now collect taxes from people who they would otherwise not be able to identify.

These agreements are seen as an attractive alternative by EU states with banking confidentiality. Luxembourg recently came out in support of the tax deals as a way of “efficiently” collecting taxes. Finance Minister Luc Frieden underscored that the Swiss-German treaty will greatly influence and be “inspiring” for the ongoing debate within the EU on the taxation of undeclared assets.

The three agreements so far are expected to come into effect in January 2013, though they still need to be approved by each country’s parliament.

Discussions have started with Italy and Switzerland is believed to be talking to Greece. I expect more European countries will approach Switzerland as they realise it is an effective way of collecting unpaid taxes and soon. Many people across Europe and beyond with undisclosed assets could be in for a shock.

There never was any legitimate tax planning benefit to holding assets in a Swiss bank account. For advice on arrangements which can legally and legitimately save you tax in your country of residence, speak to an established tax and estate planning advisory firm like Blevins Franks.

The tax rates, scope and reliefs may change. Any statements concerning taxation are based upon our understanding of current taxation laws and practices which are subject to change. Tax information has been summarised; an individual must take personalised advice.

To keep in touch with the latest developments in the offshore world, check out the latest news on our website www.blevinsfranks. com

British customs department wrote off £5.2 billion in taxes last year TAXES totalling almost £5.2 billion were written off by HM Revenue and Customs last year, according to a report published by official auditors.

Meanwhile, HMRC’s accounts for 2011/12 showed it overpaid around £2-£2.5 billion in tax credits and underpaid up to £290 million as a result of fraud and error, said the report by the National Audit Office. A target of reducing the level of fraud and error to 5% of tax credit entitlements was missed.

Currencies USD GBP CHF JPY AUD CAD SEK

29-June-2012

1,2535 0,8031 1,1964 99,29 1,2266 1,2785 8,6818

1,2610 0,8079 1,2060 100,08 1,2511 1,3041 8,8554

The chairman of the influential House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, Margaret Hodge, said she was shocked by “the sheer scale of waste and mismanagement” at HMRC. Over the last two years, the report found there had been a “large increase” in the amount of tax which HMRC has decided not to pursue - including £756 million worth of income tax in 2011/12 alone. Total tax debts being pursued stood at £13.3 billion at the

22-June-2012

1,2518 0,8018 1,1964 100,50 1,2357 1,2773 8,7148

1,2593 0,8066 1,2060 101,30 1,2604 1,3028 8,8891

end of March, down from £15 billion the year before. The department met its target of reducing tax credit debts from £4.7 billion to £4 billion by March this year, but only after writing off old debts totalling £1.7 billion. It estimates that £2.3-£4 billion of tax credit debt is unlikely ever to be recovered.

The 2011/12 total of £5.17 billion in writeoffs and remittances - debts which have been dropped because they are too small to be worth pursuing or would cause hardship

15-June-2012

1,2605 0,8107 1,1963 99,27 1,2481 1,2808 8,7656

1,2681 0,8156 1,2059 100,06 1,2731 1,3064 8,9409

1wk 1mth 2mth 3mth 6mth 1yr

USD 0,20 0,25 0,34 0,46 0,73 1,07

EUR 0,28 0,32 0,40 0,56 0,86 1,19

GBP 0,56 0,62 0,71 0,90 1,18 1,68

if collected - included £1.5 billion in income tax, £1.9 billion in VAT, £653 million in National Insurance and £503 million in corporation tax.

The figure was down on the £5.5 billion write-offs and remittances in 2010/11, but still made up more than 1% of the total £474.2 billion tax collected.

Overall revenue increased by £4.5 billion (0.96%) in 2011/12, while the amount raised

by VAT increased by £9.3 billion.

CHF 0,02 0,04 0,06 0,09 0,18 0,38

JPY 0,12 0,14 0,16 0,20 0,33 0,55

LIBOR RATES (London Interbank Borrowing Rates) AS AT 02/07/2012

CAD 1,04 1,11 1,20 1,31 1,57 2,04

AUD 3,72 3,81 3,89 4,00 4,24 4,55

33 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Property As the temperatures soar it is time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your earlier labours

The sweet scents of summer!

A

S I LOOK out of the window of the room where I write my articles, I can see the last of the jacaranda flower petals floating downwards on the morning breeze to join the thousands of others already on the orchard floor.

My husband hates the trees and doesn’t admire them even when they are heavily in bloom, looking like lilac coloured clouds moving in the wind. He thinks only of the litter they make and has threatened to cut them down once I am gone! Yet he will spend time every evening removing the bright red hibiscus heads on the hedge nearer the house, so that he can enjoy the new flowers that appear daily. Maybe it is because he can catch the flowers before they fall to the ground and not spoil the garden with dead flowers and leaves! If he lived in North America during the ‘fall’ then he would have something to worry about!

Another startlingly won-

Jasminum grandiflorum

Stunning: Caesalpinia gilliesii

Wisteria

derful tree which drops tiny leaflets everywhere is Caesalpinia gilliesii, but he doesn’t seem to mind that, perhaps because it is in the part of the garden which I am responsible for! This show-stopper causes neighbours to remark on the

wonderful long red stamens protruding from the bright yellow petals which wave in any breeze. The tree is aptly named ‘The Yellow Bird of Paradise Tree’. The resulting heavy seed pods should be removed as they appear or they will weigh the deli-

cate branches down, unless of course you want to collect the fertile seeds and sow them. If you don’t remove them, they will ripen and pop open with a loud crack, scattering the seeds which will so easily germinate everywhere!

Taking a respite from my keyboard and gazing along the veranda I can see a second flush of sweetly perfumed wisteria flowers curled round the veranda railings, while in the garden at the front of the house my two carissa bushes are full

PLANTOFTHEMONTH Nicotiana landsdorfii SOMETIMES regarded as an half hardy annual, this very worthwhile plant, Nicotiana landsdorfii, belongs to the large Nightshade family. A half hardy annual means that it is usually started off in a pot, rather than planted directly into the soil. In Cyprus it can be a short lived perennial, certainly in areas where there are no low night temperatures during the winter, and if grown in a slightly shaded position, it may last for several years. The plant is quite tall for a border plant, usually with thin stems of around a half to a metre in height, looking its best growing amongst purple leaved plants. The light green leaves are rounded and very soft to the touch and can be torn easily, so care should be taken when handling them. The lime green bells hang downwards from the tops of the stems in a most delightful way and are hugely desirable attracting many insects and bees. The resulting seeds are

very fertile and come true, assuring you of more of these most attractive plants for next years summer garden.

Propagation is usually by sowing the seeds in late winter provided the weather is not too cold, or the compost too wet. The seeds only need a very light covering of soil to help them germinate and tiny seedlings should appear between one and three weeks. When you can handle them without damaging the roots or stems, prick them out into seed trays and then into small plant pots as they grow. Introduce them to the garden as the soil warms up and watch as the acid green flowers begin to appear.

Originally from Brazil, the pollen of these non-perfumed flowers is generally blue, which doesn’t seem to deter the bees at all. The Royal Horticultural Society has given this lovely plant an Award of Garden Worthiness which it thoroughly deserves.

of heady white flowers, competing for attention with the perfume of Jasminum grandiflorum, trailing in full glory over an umbrella-type stand. The massive growth of all these plants has been extraordinary this year, due mainly to the exceedingly wet winter we had and not lashings of fertiliser! Lots of plants that I thought lost had been buried in the depths of the soil until the rain penetrated deep down during the long winter and re-activated them again.

Certainly the middle weeks in June sorted the sheep from the goats as far as drought proof plants are concerned, when the mercury soared to a heady 42C in Nicosia in the shade, but out in the open garden temperatures would have been much higher. The mid-summer solstice is past and now we have to wait until Maria’s Assumption in mid-August for any respite in temperatures, when manual work in the garden is at its lowest ebb, so just keep your garden ticking over until then.

INTHEGARDENTHISMONTH ‘Please not a lot’; I hear the cries from all parts of the island! Any real gardening can wait until cooler weather returns, but it will help plants if you can get out there and dead head them regularly. Do this either very early while it is still cool or in the evenings after the sun has gone down. I prefer the mornings as it is so fresh then and you can see which plants are suffering or have died and remove them. Water is such a precious commodity that to waste it is a crime. Someone I met last year in the USA remarked that water is the next oil! I think he is right.

Keep the area under plants free of debris from flowers and leaves as this will stop any water from reaching down to the roots where it will do the most good. Either chop them up and put them on your compost heap or take them to the nearest dump.

New plants in my garden have a cut off water bottle dug into the ground behind the plant during the first summer and water is inserted through that. A similar idea will help fruit trees along and is called ‘The Israeli Watering System’. Set your watering nozzles on the irrigation hoses halfway between the trunk of the tree and the leaf canopy.

Each irrigation time the water will

seep through the ground at those points and the fibrous roots will find their way to this vital source. It is an interesting fact that the skins of citrus fruits are thin when there is plenty of water and temperatures are not too high, while if the summer is hot and long, the pith becomes much thicker to protect the fruit inside.

Lots of bushes will benefit from a trim now, even in the heat of the summer.

You can make things easier for yourself by using shears rather than secateurs for this job. Cut back lavenders, rosemarys, and those pretty grey leaved plants with the yellow button flowers called santolinas (left), which look boring when the flowers have faded to a dull yellow. They need a really good cropping. Not only are you tidying up your flower beds but you are making sure that water is reaching the vital parts of the plant.

Figs are ripening fast now so check every day and pick any that look as if they are nodding. Vines, which always look so lush even in the height of summer, should have many bunches of grapes hanging down and there are already some local grapes in the stores. Check the bunches and remove any fruit that doesn’t look perfect. Take off any of last season’s ripe citrus fruits and let the trees concentrate on the new

crops that are growing rapidly rapidly.

D Don’t forget y your potted plants. They can really suffer in the high heat of a Cypriot s summer.

Fa Favourites such as pelargoniums can become very congested in the centre, making the right conditions for scale insects to infest. Some gardenias can suffer the same fate, so remove any leaves and stems to keep the interior airy and keep checking that there are no telltale white spots there. Soapy spray will not remove them so it is a fingers job or spraying with an insecticide to remove these insects successfully.

If you are going away for any length of time and someone is looking after your plants for you, then gather them together in a shady place which will make it easier for those helping out.

If you have a gravel tray to put them on, so much the better.

Gather in achillea and statice flower stems while they are still brightly

Achillea

coloured if you want to dry them.

Tie them in bunches and hang them upside down in an airy place until they are dry. They are so useful for winter flower arrangements. Collect seeds now and put them into old envelopes or paper bags, writing the name on the outside or you may not remember what they are when you come to sow them.

34 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

Property LEGAL ISSUES WITH GEORGE COUCOUNIS

The administration of a deceased’s estate THE administration of the estate of a deceased is regulated by the relevant law which provides who can be appointed as the administrator, with or without a will annexed, the powers and duties of the administrator and the probate registrar, how the estate will be administered and distributed between beneficiaries and how the debts of the deceased will be paid.

Prior to the issue of the probate order, the administrator must provide the court with information regarding the heirs and beneficiaries of the deceased, an estimate of the estate, movable, immovable and debts and a written declaration by the heirs or beneficiaries consenting to his appointment. Where the court considers it necessary, it requires for a publication in a daily newspaper so any interested person is informed of the application for the post administrator. Moreover, the administrator must sign a bond for double the value of the estate with a guarantor of his that he will execute his duties in accordance with the law and the will. A temporary tax release certificate is also necessary for the issue of the probate order.

An administrator is obliged to file in court an inventory of the estate accompanied by an affidavit and he shall obtain the tax release certificate and pay any tax if payable.

His main duties are to collect and get the estate, pay the funeral and testamentary expenses, pay all the just debts of the deceased in the order of priority set out in the law, have the residue of the estate carefully valued, if it appears necessary to do so, reduce the legacies proportionally, if it appears that the testator has disposed by a will of more than the disposable portion and distribute the statutory portion and the undisposed portion according to the law.

After payment of the funeral and other incidental expenses, the just debts of the deceased will be liquidated by the administrator in the following order of priority, i.e. (a) the expenses of the medical treatment of the deceased

during his last illness and the wages due to the domestic servants of the deceased, not exceeding six months’ wages, (b) secured debts according to the order of the priority, and (c) any other debt.

Where there are no adequate funds in the estate to pay the debts, taxes and other obligations, the administrator has to apply to court for directions and an order as to whether he will sell, mortgage or lease a part of the estate to cover the amounts due. Before the court issues the order, it must be satisfied that there is such a need for the administrator to dispose or charge a part of the estate, facilitating the distribution of the estate among the beneficiaries. For this purpose, the administrator must serve the application to the heirs and submit a valuation report to court regarding the value of the part of the estate to be disposed, e.g. a car, other movables or even an immovable property. However, the administrator may, with the written consent of all the heirs and without applying to the court, sell or dispose any part or even the whole of the estate not only to cover the debts or to protect the value of a perishable property, but also to facilitate the distribution of the property among the heirs. The issue depends on how the interests of the estate are properly safeguarded and how the beneficiaries will decide for their benefit.

For an administration to be considered complete, the administrator must submit the final accounts to the probate registrar accompanied by a written declaration signed by the heirs and the beneficiaries stating they have received their inheritance right. The probate registrar examines the final accounts and provided the administration has been properly executed, he releases the administrator from his duties.

George Coucounis is a lawyer specialising in the Immovable Property Law, based in Larnaca, Tel: 24 818288, coucounis.law@cytanet.com. cy, www.coucounislaw.com

Are we still gaining from misery of others?

How misfortune elsewhere affects prices in Cyprus

By Antonis Loizou FRICS WE HAVE reported before that so far Cyprus has benefited from the misery of others. Recently, the Arab Spring has also benefited the Cyprus real estate market with an increasing interest for home buying, but also investment and development primarily in the Nicosia and Limassol areas. There is a huge potential from such a market source in all sorts of business, ranging in addition from health ventures to schooling and import/ export business.

There are other countries as well whose misery for the first time will not help Cyprus.

Spain is in trouble especially in its financing/real estate market, causing a downward trend of prices, making Spain more competitive than Cyprus. In addition liquid short Spanish banks will be happy to lend with a high buyer’s contribution and at “reasonable” rates. Greece and Portugal are in a similar boat be it Greece is the worst of all.

Both these countries have in the market very competitive prices, but especially for Greece watch out, since if you buy in euro and Greece eventually leaves the euro zone, you will have drachmas which will be worth 50 per cent of the value. So if you are contemplating buying in these three countries, it might be worth waiting till the immediate disruption at least has calmed

before proceeding.

So, are we to expect a further reduction in prices, bearing in mind that for the tourist areas for secondary location properties the reduction is around 40 per cent from 2007/2008 levels and for others 30 per cent? We doubt that there will be further reduction (wait however for the conditions of the EU bailout). As far as the local situation is concerned accepting offers from a buyer, it becomes more of a personal financial need, as opposed to market value. So two similar flats may be sold at different prices, depending how much urgency the owners have for the cash.

A neighbour of ours who bought their property for €270,000 and who has carried out extensive improvements and being in a competitive location, has dropped the price to the original purchase cost six years ago. We could say this is a drop of an “unacceptable” large discount of 30 per cent (ignoring the improvements), but he informed us that he is so hard up that he owes the bank €180,000, and they are now is pushing him to pay off.

He is in two minds either to give the house to the bank for €180,000 with the condition if the bank sells it for more to refund him the difference or to drop the price to €250,000 and continue to be charged 13 per cent p.a. interest. But it is not only a matter of price but availability of buyers (they are just not there) and once buyers are found the next hurdle

is to find the bank to finance them. So at the end the market is limited to the top end buyers, who do not require the cash to buy and who can pick and choose the limited number of best properties that are now left.

Another factor affecting the market is that potential buyers show a marked preference for ready or nearly ready units.

As such, this places an added pressure on sellers who might have a development underway. It is also a fact that beach properties are now becoming a scarcity in the Famagusta region, especially in the Protaras popular area of, and it is doubtful if there are more than four to five units on the beach available (in Larnaca 10-15, in Limassol 30 and in Pafos-Latchi region around 15-20 units). With no new projects under way it is appreciated that for those units at least we might notice even a slight price increase. Top end buyers now comprise, in addition to the Russians, Arabs, which are on an increasing scale. The much talked about Chinese buyers are on the bottom end of the scale aiming for the €300,000 target to get a permanent stay visa.

Three years ago we approached several banks to offer for sale recovered/repossessed homes under one roof.

This could have helped the banks to sell their properties easier and the distressed owners to join in if they so wished.

We were so sure of their posi-

tive response that we have even leased a large field within which we would have placed a tent for the purpose of exhibiting the properties on the outskirts of Nicosia. Unfortunately most of the banks turned us down. Our proposal was that for the offered property we would have: Provided a market value valuation – attached to the brochure Examined the structural/ repair condition of each unit so each property had a structural report Ascertained at what stage the title deed issue is at and if any problem to help out Undertaken basic repair and maintenance until the property was sold The banks to provide finance to approved buyers and title deed guarantees (if not available) Properties not capable of ready sales to be managed by us for rentals in meantime The whole philosophy was to have a joint effort by the banks in the form of a “supermarket”, having a separate website with “distressed” properties, completely confidential in terms of owners and problems, to be promoted locally and abroad to targeted individuals as well as funds and investors – alas.

Antonis Loizou & Associates Ltd – Real Estate Valuers & Estate Agents, www. aloizou.com.cy, ala-HQ@ aloizou.com.cy

New Paphos development Kings Avenue Mall a milestone project for Cyprus Show flat in Akamandis Gardens ATHIARI Commercial Ltd (Paphos) is developing the first shopping mall of Paphos and one of the largest commercial developments on the island; an investment that will exceed €100 million.

The Kings Avenue Mall will serve as the ultimate shopping experience in Cyprus.

It is located at the junction of the Temple of the Kings Avenue and St. Paul’s Avenue, a few hundred metres from the picturesque Paphos harbour and from many hotels and apartments.

With more than 100,000m² of indoor space, of which 28,000m² is leasable area, this shopping mall with the exclusive architectural design is being devel-

of the largest retailing companies, including worldwide leading brands, such as: Zara, Pull & Bear, Bershka, Massimo Duti, Oysho, Zara Home, Jumbo, Public, Carrefour, K-Cineplex, Stradivarius, Mango, Tezenis, Intimissimi, Charles & Keith, Calzedonia, Playlife, Baggatt, and many more.

oped over two levels with a plethora of renowned brands.

The Kings Avenue Mall, among others, will include: department stores and fashion shops; full service restaurants, cafés and a self-service fast food court; cinema complex; indoor

and outdoor playplaces; toy stores; home ware; supermarket; electronics and home entertainment shops; and 1,250 covered parking spaces over two underground levels.

Athiari Commercial Ltd has already signed licence agreements with some

The Kings Avenue Mall is scheduled for opening in 2013. Retailers can file their application for licensing a shop via info@kingsavenuemall.com

LEPTOS Estates has launched its new show apartment at Akamandis Gardens, one of the most beautiful sea view developments in the Paphos region.

Akamandis Gardens is set very close to the sea and the sandy beaches of Polis Chrysochous, just five minutes from the new marina in Latchi.

The traditional styles and finishes have been handpicked to suit the development and the area, all wrapped up in a package that offers great value for money.

Highlights of this beautiful Garden Resort include a very large communal swimming pool, private swimming pools, surface parking area, landscaped gardens, beautiful green areas, irrigation systems, pathways, and many more .

With just 20 per cent down payment the buyer gets possession of the property. For the balance the company offers in-house finance up to 108 months.

Free phone 80000707, info@leptosestates.com, or visit www.leptosestates.com

35 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

ADVERTISER helps you find what you’re looking for

Advertiser Only

€14 (plus VAT)

a week for classifieds (up to 40 words)

Send your classified by fax or email and pay by credit card, cheque or cash. It couldn’t be simpler!

Nicosia - email: classified@cyprus-mail.com Limassol - email: limassol@cyprus-mail.com Paphos - email: paphos@cyprus-mail.com

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES ***************************** CYPRIOT CUISINE COOK OR CHEF. For Work in BEIJING, CHINA. For Long or Short period of time. We will provide Accommodation. A Great Opportunity to Travel & Make Friends. If you are interested, please send your resume to ozres1@gmail.com Tel: 99302861 *****************************

MISCELLANEOUS ***************************** CASTLE AUCTIONS – Auction & Sale Rooms in Kolossi, Limassol. Next auction: SAT 30TH JUNE at 11am and includes; Honda CRV convertible, wood laithe, new furniture, beds, sofas, fridges, washing machines, gym equipment, collectables and much more. Tel: 7000 78 89, find us on Facebook or www. castle-auctions.com ***************************** MR. MARIOS HADJIANDREOU from Zodia and Ms Crispina Inico Llales from Philippines are pleased to announce their engagement. ***************************** TO ALL OF YOU WHO ARE GREEK ORTHODOX: The European Union Parliament is pressuring the Turkish Government to restore Saint Sophia Cathedral from a museum into a Greek Orthodox Church. However the Parliament has set a requirement of 1,000,000 signatures on a petition before it makes this conversation a prerequisite for Turkey’s admission into the European Union. You are requested to cast your vote by logging on to a link at www. hagiasophiablog.com. This is an opportunity for each of you to have an impact on world events. Get as many Greek Orthodox, other Orthodox and Christian friends of yours to sign the petition and make history. ***************************** ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS CYPRUS

96616589 Thursday 24645523 / 99259264 Limassol Tuesday / Wednesday / Friday / Saturday 25368265 / 99559322

Ayia Napa Monday 97798043 Larnaca Tuesday (Polish spk)

forever home she deserves please call on 99520511 between 10-2pm ****************************

Nicosia Wednesday/Sunday 99013596 Paphos Tuesday / Thursday / Saturday 99916331 / 99399240 Details of meetings are available on www.aa-europe.net ***************************** DOES SOMEONE ELSE’S DRINKING CAUSE YOU A PROBLEM? Al - Anon is for family and friends of those with a drinking problem. Call Nicosia 99 877205 for more information and details of meetings. *****************************

HEALTH & FITNESS ***************************** FULL BODY Relaxation and Therapeutic massage in Nicosia. Please Call: 99518613 ***************************** FULL BODY MASSAGE + AROMATHERAPY in classy surroundings in Kato Paphos – privacy & discretion. We offer you professional mausseurs, appointments necessary 1 hour for €35, call 96637039 honest people ***************************** CLINICAL PILATES. Personalised Clinical Pilates by Physiotherapists in Nicosia.

Individual assessment and supervision of exercises.

“Clinical pilates” is a modified form of therapeutic exercise used by physiotherapists to assist in the rehabilitation and prevention of musculoskeletal injury especially lower back pain, sacro-iliac pain and neck pain. More info on 22446988. *****************************

PETS *****************************

BEAUTIFUL MALE, Labrador mix, 10-11 months old puppy. He is very intelligent and easily trainable and needs to be rehomed asap. Please call 99520511 between 102pm if you can give him a forever home! **************************** A LITTER OF 5 KITTENS were dumped outside a shop in Nicosia and we are in desperate need of people to adopt any one of them.

Please call on 96328080 after 9am ( except between 1.30-4pm) ***************************** FOR SALE 2 male English cocker spaniel puppies, born 18th March, golden colour, with an excellent pedigree, vaccinated, microchip with registration number, lovely natured, DNA tested parents.

For information look at www. costopa.net or call 99884578 Anna ( Nicosia) ****************************

LESSONS **************************** GREEK LESSONS for children and adults: reading; writing; speaking. Information: 99905862 (Larnaca) **************************** PRIVATE TUITION - Experienced, UK-qualified teacher and tutor offers full / part time private home tuition in Maths, English, Science, Geography, History, Business Studies and Economics, from KS3 to iGCSE, AS and A2 levels. Telephone 26642781 or 99318796. ****************************

SERVICES

Is drink costing you more than just money? AA could be the answer.

Meeting at the following locations/days. Call to speak to an AA member.

Nicosia - tel: 22 818583 fax: 22 676385

LOLA is a lovely natured small size beige female young terrier . She is an ideal indoor pet and gets on great with everyone ! If you can give her the

**************************** DO IT ALL DEREK - Experienced carpenter - made to measure fittings - flat pack assembly - repairs - altera-

Limassol - tel: 25 761117 fax: 25 761141

tions - installations. Limassol. Tel: 99840640 **************************** SWIFT SERVICE AND REPAIRS air-cons, commercial and domestic fridges and freezers, ice machines, cool rooms, supply and fit air-cons VRV S. Call Nik on 99579602 Limassol **************************** K.D.FLYSCREENS LTD We manufacture top quality sliding screens, opening doors and roller systems. We also do repairs. For a FREE QUOTE please contact Phone: 99119582 Website: www.kdflyscreens.com **************************** DOG AND CAT sitting service available by English lady.

Planning a vacation? I can look after your pets in my home or yours. Be free to travel with peace of mind.

Reasonable rates. References available. Call Janet 99025925 ***************************** KEEP YOUR HOME COOLER THIS SUMMER by having Windowfilm professionaly fitted. Stops up to 86% of heat from entering your home!

Windowfilm increases privacy, blocks harmful uv-rays which cause fading, reduces glare and saves energy costs on aircon. Also keeps your home warmer in winter. Call Ian on 99979671 ***************************** PROFESSIONAL UPHOLSTERY CLEANING, also carpets, rugs and mattresses.

Special offers now available.

For a quote call Rickys Cleaning Services on 99131044 (all areas) rickyscleaningservices@gmail.com ***************************** K.D.FLYSCREENS LTD We manufacture top quality sliding screens, opening doors and roller systems. We also do repairs. For a FREE QUOTE please contact Phone: 99119582 Website: www.kdflyscreens.com ***************************** WE UNDERTAKE REFURBISHING of houses or holiday homes, construction of pergolas, undertaking of plumbing, house painting, garden work.

For information call JIMMYS: 96587137, MELIS: 96547879 ***************************** JURIDICAL SERVICES Contracts, sales agreements, conveyancing, wills, administration of estates, general litigation, power of attorney, land registry matters, companies, translations, immigration etc... And all legal matters.

Call: Natalia Michealidou – jurist, Paphos Tel: 26 933159 – 99523231 (office hours)

Paphos - tel: 26 911383 fax: 26221049

Larnaca - tel: 24 652243 fax: 24 659982

*****************************

FOR SALE MISCELLANEOUS ***************************** OWNER RETURNING TO UK. Washing machine still under guarantee €250. Floor standing water cooler nearly new €85, under counter fridge nearly new €100, solid oak light dining table and 6 rattan chairs €250. Contact 99176231 **************************** HI-FI AND DVD: Proton AM-455 amplifier, Sony SCD-CE595 Super Audio 5-disc CD player, Marantz SD535 twin cassette deck, Boston Acoustics CR6 bookshelf speakers, Philips DVP3142 multi-format DVD player. €300 o.n.c.o. Call 99 468 707 ***************************** FOR SALE 2.4 metre Satellite Dish for sale. Good condition. reasonable offer accepted. Buyer Collects. Tel 24632691 or 96512257. ***************************** CLOTHES STOCKS AND SHOP FITTINGS FOR SALE. Excellent women’s brands for sale including Italian, Spanish and French clothes and shoes. Also women’s dummies and modern wall fittings (clothes rails.) Selling at very low prices for clearance. Tel: 99-168943 ***************************** 2 BEDROOM ATLAS MOBILE HOME FOR SALE. Granite kitchen surfaces tiled floors in W.C., Shower room and kitchen €9,900.

Contact <sandymathie@ hotmail.com> or mobile 99416918 *****************************

FOR SALE BUSINESS/ PROPERTY/LAND ***************************** PLOT IN GEROSKIPOU, just 5 minutes from the Paphos centre, with magnificent sea views of the whole of Paphos, 640 square metres, attached to a green area, premium piece of land, €210.000, Tel 99403261 (owners) ***************************** LIMASSOL LAND FOR SALE Residential piece of land of 985sqm in the village of Pareklisia. Partial sea views, near to electricity and water supplies. €135.000 D.C. (Cyprus) Real Estate Tel: 99 330 908 ***************************** PLOT IN LEFKARA, LARNACA

classified contents Employment Opportunities pg 35 Employment Miscellaneous 35 Pets 35 Lessons 35 Health & Fitness 35 Personal 35 Services 35 For Sale Miscellaneous 35 For Sale Land/ Property Business 35 For Sale Motor vehicles 36 Wanted 36 To Let Nicosia 36 To Let Limassol 39 To Let Larnaca 39 To Let Paphos 39 To Let Protaras, Ayia Napa, Paralimni -To Let Athens 41 Land For Sale Bulgaria -For Sale Limassol 41 For Sale Nicosia 41 For Sale Larnaca -For Sale Paphos 41 For Sale Ayia Napa -For Sale Famagusta Protaras -For Sale Athens -Property& Home Services display ads 42

abbreviations bdrm c/h a/c s/pool f/f apt pm pw sw nw st rd p/s c/l swb r/cass e/w

bedroom central heating air conditioning swimming pool fully furnished apartment per month per week south west north west street road power steering central locking short wheel base radio cassette electric windows

Please note tel nos. that begin with: 22 = Nicosia 23 = Paralimni/Protaras 24 = Larnaca 25 = Limassol 26 = Paphos

36 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Advertiser FOR SALE B.P./LAND

FOR SALE MOTOR VEHICLES

FOR SALE MOTOR VEHICLES

FOR SALE For Sale Plot in the centre of Lefkara Village 670sqm, high build factor, near all shops, and amenities €210.000 negotiable Tel: 99 330 908 ***************************** LAND TERSTEFANOU LARNACA Terstefanou, Larnaca.

7.5 skales/donums on road, with electricity and water, near residential area, 1 km from where the new golf courses are being built. Perfect for residential or commercial use. €900.000 tel: 99 330 908

Valued 8,000 will sell for 6,950 Euros. Tel: 99375377 ****************************

km, excellent condition, €30,900. For information call 99405122. ***************************** TOYOTA DOUBLE CABIN 2.8D 1992. A/C, power steering, full service history, MOT upto 02/2014. €2500 O.N.O Tel: 99315170

FOR SALE OR RENT - Kato Paphos – full moon bar, fully furnished and equipped, large flat screen TV’s + projector, fits 120 people comfortably, incredible opportunity for ready business!

Please call: 99493579

MAZDA RX8 2004 Black,(high power 247) electric locks, a/c ,fog lights, MD player, CD changer, TV/DVD, navigator, factory adjustable suspension soft/hard-up/down. 6+1 speed, body kit, MOT. The condition of the car is excellent. CALL 96871551 ****************************

FOR SALE factory with showroom, 1050m2, in private land, in kokkinotrimithia industrial zone. Tel. 99849195. *****************************

ACCOMMODATION AVAILABLE **************************** KOSHER ACCOMMODATION IN CYPRUS. Ring Bibi on 99036312 *****************************

PROPERTY TO LET

FOR SALE MOTOR VEHICLES ***************************** FORD FOCUS, Perfect, in Showroom condition, Black, 2007, full history, 1 owner.

TOYOTA RAV4 2.0L 1996.

A/C, power steering, Bluetooth stereo, full service history, MOT upto 05/2013, good general condition. €3000 O.N.O tel: 99315170

FOR SALE BMW 320i CONVERTIBLE, 2008, colour platinum bronze, 18’’ alloys, being leather, cruise control, front and rear parking sesonrs, lights-rain sensors, wind deflector, 45000

NICOSIA ***************************** TO LET large down stairs house 300sq. m at Platy Aglanzia

English-Painter & Decorator Fully Qualified 30 years’ Experience

The business-to-business and customer-facing network www.iconnect-cyprus.com Become part of the trusted iConnect-Cyprus Business Networking community, offering you: Professional, structured network meetings

SUMMER OFFER 30% OFF ALL AREAS • External & Internal painting • Damp Damage Repairs • Spritze Repairs • Free Estimates + very clean work • All areas. All types of woodwork stained and preserved • All work guaranteed

Tel. Tony on 99176557

CHILDCARE

Innovative events that create new business opportunities Customer-facing quality website on which to showcase your goods and services Education workshops and materials Affordable hot-desks and meeting rooms with member discounts

From a Cypriot - with 20 years experience in a kindergarten - looking after infants and children at her house in Nicosia

For information call 99781943

TO LET NICOSIA (Pik area) with reception area, open plan kitchen with dinning room and TV room.

Pressure pump system, fitted kitchen and covered parking, Price €780 tel 99606482 LUXURY 3 bedroom flat for rent, situated in a quiet but very central area of Ayios Andreas and Russian Embassies. For information and viewing please call 99585695, 99557393 FOR RENT NICOSIA, Universal Gardens Strovolos, double storey house, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, guest WC. A/C & C/H in all rooms.

Covered parking. For more information call 99487504 FOR RENT 1 bedr apartment, separate kitchen, bathroom, very clean in good condition.

Near the centre of Nicosia.

Suitable for I person. Call Michael tel 22377141 ***************************** TWO BEDROOM APARTMENT FOR RENT IN ENGOMI near

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

Cyprus college and Intercollege. Separate kitchen, one and a half bathrooms and airconditions. Equip with stove, fridge and washing machine.

Available immediately. For more information please contact Anthi at 99-537463 ***************************** ONE BEDROOM APARTMENT, in small quiet building, new, very spacious, fully furnished and air conditioned. Very good location between Strovolos and Engomi, close to The European University (Cyprus College) and all amenities. Covered parking. Rent €495/m. Please call 99695382 ***************************** TO LET 3 bedroom flat completely renovated in Strovolos.

135sqm, quiet family owned building recently painted. c/h, a/c, storage room. Stainless steel appliances, washing machine. Sky satellite TV. €650/month Call 99 330 908.

****************************** FOR RENT – 3 BEDR 250m2 HOUSE with additional officefamily room (or 4th bedroom) in prime residential area in Engomi-Nicosia, near Hilton Park Hotel. Spacious open plan living room with fireplace & dining-room, C/H & A/C units, 2 bathrooms & 1 guest WC, backyard & big veranda with BBQ, covered parking for 2 cars and large storage room in basement. Pets welcome. Price €990. Call Owner: 99488354. ****************************** TO LET 3 bdrm flat Kaimakli area near Frederic. Tel. 99606665. ****************************** NICOSIA FLAT FOR RENT 3 bedroom flat completely renovated in Strovolos. 135sqm, quiet family owned building recently painted. c/h, a/c, storage room. Stainless steel appliances, washing machine. Sky satellite TV. €650/month Call 99 330 908.

ATPEX Fencing & Decking Specialist For all your Garden and Security Fencing ♦ Quality approved workmanship ♦ 15 years experience + guaranteed work ♦ English workers ♦ also garden gates ♦ sheds ♦ chain link fencing ♦ free estimates ♦ all types of fencing & decking

Tel. ATPEX fencing 99176557

37 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

Advertiser

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

****************************** FOR RENT: 1bdrm Ag. Antonios 390, Acropolis furnished new 590, Makarios Av. 500 2bdrm acropolis new Furnished 750, Archangelos furnish 600, Kennedy furnish 630 3bdrm Ag. Dometios 550, independent house Archangelos en-suite, garden 830 4bdrm new Kosta Theodorou 1,400, Acropolis g/f 800. Posporides Estates 99474839 99646822 Reg.338 ****************************** LUXURY HOUSES: 1. 5 bedrs detached house, 550sq.m, built in 2 big plots of land, big garden with grass, big swimming pool with extra fence for children and big covered patio with bbq area, big reception areas with marble floor, fire place and bar, big kitchen with all electrical appliances and sitting room with fire place, maid’s room, floor heating, full a/c, blinds on the windows, master bedroom with en suite bathroom and shower, big bathroom for the other 3 bedrooms and extra shower in the 5th bedroom.

Available end of July - Strovolos €2500 (H5ST10001-R), (photos in the website).

3. 3 bedrs luxury terracedhouse, 210sq.m, central heating, full a/c, marble floor in the sitting areas and solid parquet floor the stairs and bedrooms,4wc,3 bathrooms the 2 en suite ,big verandas, electrical appliances in the kitchen,3 covered parking, roof garden access, in a quiet neighborhood on Mon Parnas Hill.

Engomi €1000 (H3ENG0004-R), (photos in the website).

7. 4 bedrs and sitting room upstairs luxury detached house, 380sq.m,room for the maid, central heating, full a/c, marble and parquet floor, big sitting and dining areas, office space, big verandas around the house, covered parking,3 bathrooms,4wc in a quiet area off Eleonon street, near Pizza Hut. AVAILABLE middle of July – Strovolos €1700 (H4ST10041-R), (photos in the website).

2. 3 bedrs luxury ground floor renovated semi detached house,210sq.m, with central heating, air conditions, solid parquet floor, fire place, big kitchen with all the electric appliances, 2 wc curtains, big veranda, big patio on the back with bbq area, 2 covered parkings in a quiet neighborhood close to the Embassies –Engomi €1000 (H3ENG0002-R), (photos in the website)

4. 1 bedr + office space which can be used as a bedroom fully renovated listed house with character 2 storey with central heating independent, a/c, cooker and oven in the kitchen, fire place, 2wc, small garden, in the old town - Nicosia Centre €1300 (H2NIC0001-R), (photos in the website).

5. 4 bedr+ attic room with shower and wc luxury detached house with separate maid’s room, central heating, a/c, separate office room, sitting and dining areas, big kitchen with dining room and big family room opening to the big garden with grass and bbq area, 2 covered parking, behind General flooring shop – Makedonitissa €3000 (H4MAK0025-R), (Photos on the website).

6. 3 bedr + big attic room which can be used as a bedroom/office, detached house, central heating, full a/c,3wc, 2 bathrooms, big sitting and dining room, separate kitchen with all the electrical appliances, small garden and patio with bbq area, covered parking, near Apollonion hospital. Available end of July – Makedonitissa €1200 (H4MAK0016-R), (photos in the website)

8. 4 bedr luxury detached house, 350sq.m, central heating, full a/c, office space, separate maid’s room, big storage room, solid parquet floor in the bedrooms, 2 covered parking, swimming pool, garden with trees, veranda with bbq area, big kitchen with all the electrical appliances, big sitting and dining areas, very near to English School, off Athalassas Avenue €2300 (H4ST10036-R), (photos on the website).

9. 4 bedr detached house with central heating, a/c units, separate big kitchen with el. appliances, small garden at the back, covered parking, 3wc,2 bathrooms, near the French ambassador residence – Strovolos €1000 (H4ST10038-R), (Photos on the website).

10. 4 bedr new luxury finished top quality detached house, 290sq.m, central heating, full a/c, master bedroom with ensuite shower/jacuzzi, guest bedroom with shower, main bathroom with jacuzzi, 4wc, fully expensive furnished with 3 LCD televisions, kitchen with very expensive electrical appliances and family room, garden with grass, big covered patio with bbq area,2 covered parking’s, alarm system, pressure system, - Strovolos €3000 (H4STI0039-R), (Photos on the website).

11. 3 bedr + big attic room with

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

shower and wc luxury new house,210sq.m, central heating, full a/c, 4wc, blinds on all windows, cooker and oven in the kitchen, small garden, covered parking near Alpha Mega supermarket - Strovolos €1400 (H4ST1007-R), (photos in the website).

12. 5 bedr new luxury finished detached house with separate maid’s room, one of the bedrooms with shower and wc and can be used as guest room,4 wc, solid parquet floor all the house, separate family room with fire place, big sitting room, separate dining room, big kitchen with breakfast area, big outside patio with tiles and bbq area,2 covered parking, electrical appliances in the kitchen, in a very quiet neighborhood close to CYBC station.

Can be rented furnished or not. – Platy Aglantzias €3000 (H5PAG0001-R), (Photos on the website).

13. 4 bedr+ separate maid’s room luxury finished semi detached house with central heating, full a/c, big sitting and dining areas, big kitchen with family room, full expensive electrical appliances in the kitchen(Miele), 4wc, blinds on windows, big back yard with tiled and bbq area, covered parking in a quiet neighborhood with easy access to the French school – Aglantzia €1400 (H4AGZ0008-R), (photos in the website).

14. 3 bedr luxury house, nicely modern furnished with big sitting and dining areas with bar, central heating, full a/c, big fitted kitchen with TV room, office space, patio area with bbq, covered parking, 3wc, solid parquet floor in bedrooms and granite in the sitting areas, near the MEGA TV station – Archangelos €1300 (H3AR0002-R), (photos in the

website).

15. 4 bedr house built in 2 plots,3 bedrs upstairs and one down, big garden with grass, bbq area with kiosk, Central Heating ,full AC,240sq.m,parquet floor,2 showers,3wc,electrical appliances in the kitchen, in a very quiet neighbourhood.

Available in aprox. one month from signing contracts. CAN BE RENTED ALSO FURNISHED OR PARTIALLY FURNISHED – Agios Andreas €2000 (H4AAD0006-R), (photos in the website).

16. 3 bedr + office space +separate maid’s room detached luxury house, 450sq.m, recently renovated, with central heating, full a/c, big sitting and dining area with parquet floor, TV room with fire place, big kitchen with breakfast area and fitted cooker and oven, 4 wc, roller blinds on all windows, very big verandas and yard, covered parking, in a very quiet neighborhood in the centre of Makedonitissa opposite a playground.

AVAILABLE MID JULY - €1400 (H4MAK0003-R), (photos in the website).

17. 3 bedr+ attic room which can be used for bedroom or office, luxury semi detached house, with central heating, full a/c, big separate kitchen with cooker and oven, blinds, big patio with tiles and trees on the back and covered veranda on thr front, parking, in a quiet area off 28th October street in the centre of Makedonitissa €1200 (H4MAK0026-R), (photos in the website) 18. New luxury 4 bedr + very big 40sq.m attic room with shower and wc semi detached house, 300 sq.m, central heating, full air condition, big sitting and dining areas, 4 wc, 2 showers,1 bathroom,

TO LET NICOSIA solar heater, pressure system, covered parking, big back yard with tiles, blinds, cooker, oven and, refrigerator in the kitchen, in a very quiet neighborhood and area – Agios Dometios €1500 (H4ADO0004-R).

19. 3 bedr new modern luxury detached house,180sq.m,central heating, full a/c, 3wc, 2 bathrooms, cooker and oven in the kitchen, blinds on all windows, off Tseriou Avenue. THE house is unfurnished. Lakatamia €775 (H3LAK0001-R), (photos in the website).

20. 3 bedr+ separate maid’s room semi detached house, 250sq.m, central heating, full a/c, big sitting and dining areas, big kitchen with family room, 4wc, 2 bathrooms, 1 shower, 2 covered parking, big verandas and big covered patio with bbq, big covered veranda for the winter on the back, fully furnished and equipped, in a quiet neighborhood very close to all amenities and Apha Mega supermarket - Acropolis €1100 (H4ACS0001-R), (photos in the website).

21. 3 bedr detached house partially renovated 240sq.m with central heating, full a/c, separate tv room with fire place, big sitting and dining room, separate kitchen with small family room, 3wc, big verandas and patio with deck and bbq area, covered parking in a quiet neighborhood behind Areteion hospital close to Falcon school - Dasoupoli €1950 (H3DAS0006-R), (photos in the website).

22. 4 bedrs new luxury detached house, 330sq.m, central heating, full a/c, 2 covered parking’s, big kitchen with sitting room and all the electrical appliances, blinds on

NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION On May 21st, 2012 in accordance with Section 14.81.1 C of the Liberian Business Corporation ActDogonLtd (“Company”) with registration number C-37274 doing business at 9 Marikas Kotopouli Street, 3030 Limassol the shareholders have agreed to dissolve the Company.

1. All claims against the assets of the Company must be made in writing and include the claim amount, basis and origination date.

2. The deadline for submitting claims is 23rd November 2012 3. Any claims that are not received by the company prior to the date set forth above will not be recognized.

5. All claims and payments must be sent to P. O Box 53766, 3317 Limassol, Cyprus Dated: March 22nd, 2012.

Camilla Strømstad Liquidation board

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38 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Advertiser TO LET NICOSIA the windows, 2 bedrs with en suite shower, bathroom with jacuzzi, swimming pool with patio and nice covered bbq area, opposite a green area in a very quiet area - Available end of JUNE – Strovolos €3000 (photos in the website).

23. 4 bedr luxury detached house, separate maid’s room, 600 sq.m, central heating, full a/c, 6 wc, 4 bathrooms, big sitting and dining areas opening on to the garden, big kitchen with electrical appliances, built in 2 big plots of land with huge garden with grass, swimming pool, 2 covered parking, in a quiet neighbourhood close to Alpha Mega supermarket Engomi - €3700 (H4PA20005-R), (photos on the website).

24. 4 bedr luxury detached house with expensive finishes, office space, separate maid’s room, 3 of the bedrooms with en suite shower/ bathroom, floor heating, full air condition, white marble floor all the house, fire place, lighting fixtures, big kitchen with all the electrical appliances, swimming pool with bbq area, small garden,2 covered parking’s in a nice neighbourhood with expensive houses near KEMA building – Platy Aglantzias €3500 (H4PAG0004-R), (photos in the website).

For many more properties with photos visit our website at www.landtouristestates.com which is updated

TO LET NICOSIA daily. LANDTOURIST ESTATES LTD 22-422225/96422225/96422226, www.landtouristestates. com ***************************** LUXURY FLATS: 1. 2 bedr luxury fully renovated apartment, storage heaters, 3 a/c, separate big kitchen, big sitting dining room, fully modern furnished and equipped with solid parquet floor off Prodromou street – Engomi €600 (A2ENG0010-R), (photos in the website).

2. 2 bedr new luxury modern, 2 storey apartment with solid parquet floor, floor heating independent, full a/c, 2 bathrooms, 2 wc, expensive fitted electrical appliances, blinds, covered veranda with very nice view, in a quiet neighbourhood on a modern design building. AVAILABLE 1st of August – Aglantzia €800 (A2AGZ0021-R), (photos on the website).

3. 1 bedr luxury spacious apartment with big sitting room, separate kitchen with electrical appliances, central heating independent with diesel,2 a/c, aluminum shutters in the bedrooms, covered veranda, covered parking, storage room, on a small quiet building in a quiet neighborhood – Agios Dometios €470 (A1ADO0004-R), (photos in the website).

4. 3 bedr big luxury modern fully furnished and equipped apartment with expensive

TO LET NICOSIA brand furniture, 150sq.m +big covered veranda with electronic tent, solid parquet floor all the flat, storage heaters, full a/c, 2wc,covered parking, behind Hilton off Makarios Avenue near the centre €1000 (A3NIC0001-R), (photos in the website).

6. 3 bedr luxury ground floor apartment, with separate guest room, 225sq.m, big kitchen with all the electrical appliances and breakfast area, 4 bathrooms, floor heating independent, full a/c, blinds on all the windows, marble and parquet floor, big veranda with bbq, small garden, covered parking with remote control, close to Junior school and 50 meters from the park – Agioi Omologites €1200 (A3AOM0007R),(Photos on the website) 7. 2 bedr brand new luxury finished apartment on a small modern design building with 2 bathrooms, a/c for hot and cold (Mitsubishi), storNew Furnished Attractive Homes for short/long Rentals Weekly / Monthly rentals of 2, 3 & 4 Bedrooms with the use of a communal swimming pool The lifestyle you deserve, peaceful, healthy, natural environment on a hillside in between Limassol Larnaka Nicosia with stunning sea views and pretty mountain aspects.

www.ideahomefinder.com.cy Τηλ : 22669484/99448584/99562717 Email : info@ideahomefinder.com.cy

TO LET NICOSIA age heaters can be installed if needed, electrical shutters in the bedrooms, pressure system, water serculation system, solar, electrical appliances in the kitchen, blinds, covered veranda, 2 COVERED PARKING, storage room, near the centre and near traffic lights of Honda showroom. – Agioi Omologites €700 (A2AOM0007-R) 8. 3 bedr new luxury spacious apartment, 150sq.m+big covered veranda, big sitting and dining room, nicely fur-

TO LET NICOSIA nished big separate kitchen with cooker and oven, 3 wc, 2 bathrooms, big bedrooms, a/c for hot and cold in all the rooms, electrical heating if needed, covered parking and big room on the ground floor with window which can be used for a maid or office, in a very quite neighbourhood in a small building – Agios Dometios €750 (A3ADO0006-R), (photos in the website) 9. 3 bedr new luxury penthouse apartment on the last floor of a 3 storey building, CH ind,

TO LET NICOSIA full a/c, pressure system, cooker and oven in the kitchen, blinds in the living room, 2 bathrooms, 130sq.m, big veranda with view, covered parking, 200m opposite Akropolis park. AVAILABLE 1st of August – Acropolis €850(A3ACS0039-R), (photos on the website).

10. 2 bedr new luxury finished apartment with a/c for hot and cold, NICELY MODERN FURNISHED, big covered veranda,2 bathrooms,2wc,covered parking, storage room, secured

39 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

TO LET NICOSIA entrance building in a very quiet neighborhood – Aglantzia €650 (A2AGZ0022-R), (photos in the website) 11. 1 bedr apartment, 55sq.m, separate kitchen, fully furnished and equipped with television in good condition,2 AC for hot and cold on Makarios Avenue near Debenhams.

Available for short and long term – Nicosia Centre €450 (A1NIC0002-R), (photos in the website).

12. 2 bedr big luxury apartment with nice view, storage heaters, full a/c, big sitting room, big separate kitchen fully equipped, nicely modern furnished, covered veranda, covered parking, in a quiet neighborhood, off Prodromou street near Eleon swimming pool. €580 (A2ENG0005-R), (Photos on the website) 13. New luxury 2 bedr apartment with nice view, 100sq.m, big sitting & dining area, big separate kitchen with cooker and oven, big covered verandah, 2 wc, storage heaters, 2 a/c, electric shutters in the bedrooms, covered parking and storage room on the 11th floor of a small building with 6 flats only 200 meters for Akropolis park and opposite a small neighborhood park – Dasoupolis €600 (A2DAS0001-R), (photos in the website).

14. New luxury modern 3 bedr apartment,145sq.m big covered veranda with nice view,

Advertiser TO LET NICOSIA a/c in all the rooms, electrical heating, cooker and oven in the kitchen, big sitting and dining room,2 bathrooms, laundry room, covered parking and storage room off Kennedy Avenue behind KPMG offices – Acropolis €900(A3ACS0038-R), (photos on the website).

15. 2 bedr brand new luxury finished apartment in a modern luxury building with independent central heating, full a/c, 2 bathrooms, 2 wc, aluminum shutters in the bedrooms, cooker, oven, fridge and washing machine in the kitchen, big veranda, electric parking entrance, covered parking and colour intercom.

Price includes cable net service with 10mb and TV satellite channels – Acropolis €700 (A2ACS0004-R), (photos in the website).

16. New luxury 2 bedr apartment with central heating independent, full ac, fully modern nicely furnished and equipped, big covered verandah, 2 wc, covered parking opposite Hilton, off Makarios Avenue close to the centre – Lykavitos €650 (A2LYK0003-R), (photos in the website) 17. Fully renovated luxury 1 bed apartment,60 sq.m, fully furnished and equipped with internet, LCD 32 ‘ TV, in the centre of Nicosia near Debenhams, with 2 a/c for hot and cold. – Nicosia Centre €550 (A1NIC0003-R), (photos in the website).

TO LET NICOSIA 18. 4 bedr luxury floor apartment,250sq.m, office, maid’s room, central heating ind, full a/c,2 showers, 1 bathroom, 3wc, parquet floor, big kitchen with cooker and oven, big sitting area, roller blinds on all the windows, big veranda on a small building off Athalasas Avenue near Alpha Mega supermarket and Areteion hospital – Dasoupolis €1100 (A4DAS002-R), (photos on the website) 19. 2 bedr luxury apartment, 95sq.m, 4 AC for hot and cold, fully newly furnished and equipped, covered verandah, 2 wc, covered parking off Makarios Avenue between Hilton and Debenhams – Nicosia Centre €700. Can be rented also for 6 months for €1100 per month - (A2NIC0024-R), (photos in the website) 20. 2 bedrs ground floor big apartment.130 sq.m, CH independent, 3 A/C, very big bedrooms with parquet floor, big sitting and dining area, big separate kitchen, fully nicely furnished, on a small 2 storey building off Makarios Avenue behind Hilton hotel walking distance to the centre - Nicosia Centre €550 (A2NIC0002-R), (Photos on the website).

21. 3 bedr spacious apartment, 150sq.m, central heating independent, 3a/c, big sitting room,2 bathrooms,2wc,covered veranda, in a small building with

TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET LARNACA

www.landtouristestates. com which is updated daily. LANDTOURIST ESTATES LTD 22-422225 / 96-422225 / 96422226 www.landtouristestates. com ******************************

1. K.S.L LETTINGS – APARTMENT FOR RENT Fully Furnished ground floor 2 bedroom apartment, overlooking pool. Beautifully furnished throughout. 350 Euros per calendar month. Larnaca District. Quote TLL884. Tel. (00357) 24815104

TO LET NICOSIA 2 flats only, covered parking, near Hilton Park hotel – Engomi €750 (A3ENG0022-R), (photos in the website).

22. 3 bedr luxury spacious 2 storey Penthouse apartment 220sq.m+ big covered veranda, SEPARATE MULTI USE ROOM 60SQ.M WITH BATHROOM on the top of the flat with 80sq.m veranda, central heating independent, full a/c, 4wc, big bathroom with jacuzzi, big sitting and dining areas with solid parquet floor, separate kitchen with new silver, electrical appliances, 2 covered parking, big storage room, off Makarios Avenue near Hilton and Debenhams – Nicosia Centre €1500 (A3NIC0010-R), (Photos on the website).

23. 3 bedr ground floor apartment,140sq.m,with separate kitchen, very big yard with trees and flowers and patio 120sq.m, independent central heating, 3 a/c, 3 wc, 2 bathrooms, fully furnished, parquet floor, in a small quiet building near Agios Pavlos church – Agios Dometios €750 (A3ADO0002-R), (photos in the website) 24. 3 bedr luxury apartment, 135sq.m,, parquet floor, big sitting and dining area, 2 bathrooms, electrical appliances in the kitchen, big covered veranda, shutters on all windows, covered parking, storage room in a dead end, off Kyriakou Matsi street close to Ministry of Foreing Affairs and Junior School – Agioi Omologites €650 (A3AOM0008-R), (Photos on the website) 25. 2 bedr new luxury finished and FURNISHED ground floor apartment, 80sq.m +120sq.m veranda and garden, separate floor heating, full a/c, 2wc, aluminum shutters outside the windows, pressure system, fully expensively fitted with electrical appliances in the kitchen, big covered parking and big storage room, off Athallassa Avenue near English School in a small modern building. AVAILABLE 1st of AUGUST – Strovolos €800 (A2ST10023-R), (photos in the website).

26. 3 bed brand new luxury finished apartment in a small modern design building with 2 bathrooms(one en suite), expensive electrical appliances in the kitchen, double glazed windows with electrical shutter, covered veranda, pressure system, solar heater, central satellite antenna, 2 covered parkings, storage room, security entrance, close to Honda traffic lights walking distance to the centre – Agioi Omologites €850 (A3AOM0009-R), (photos in the website).

For many more properties with photos visit our website at

LIMASSOL **************************** LIMASSOL. Spacious modern 2 bedroom flat, tranquil block, central residential area, sea and mountains views. Full a/c. Solar water heater, power shower. Covered parking.

Real wood flooring. Italian kitchen. New Sony TV DVD. Fully equipped. 99409829 info@idclimassol.org

3 BEDROOM DETACHED UPPER HOUSE at Apostolos Andreas area, in Limassol. Rent . Tel. 99497576, 99924444, 99886775 FOR RENT IN CENTRE OF LANIA village a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom modernised old village house. Unfurnished, 425 euro pcm Tel 99305491. **************************** OFFICE FOR RENT OPPOSITE SEA WITH amazing sea views. 120sqm, 2 bathrooms, kitchen. Security system, cabling and server room ready.

Price € 1400/month negotiable tel. 99 330 908 www.cyprusre.com/listing-LIM-0103 4

BEDROOM RECENTLY RENOVATED whole floor apartment of 200sqm.. Fully Furnished. Opposite sea, swimming pool, tennis court, and security gate. 3 new bathrooms, new kitchen with stainless steel appliances.

2 Covered parkings. Price € 1500/month. Call 99 330 908

LIMASSOL OFFICE FOR RENT Brand new Office For Rent On Limassol’s most popular high street. Open Plan layout, 190sqm, raised flooring, structured cabling, 2 bathrooms, kitchenette. Price €3600/ month negotiable tel. 99 330 908 http://www.cyprusre.com/ listing-lim-0155

LARNACA ***************************** ADVERTISE YOUR PROPERTY FOR FREE. SEE OUR WEBSITE FOR FULL DETAILS. www.wowpropertymanagement.com or contact us: 24668303 / 97620336. 3 Bed unfurnished – Oroklini.

3 Bed furnished – Oroklini. 1 Bed furnished – Mackenzie.

Management Packages Available. ***************************** FULLY FURNISHED one bedroom flat near Larco hotel Larnaca. Price €370. Tel: 99202543 *****************************

Salamis Sport Bar & Restaurant All UEFA EURO 2012 LIVE HERE English commentary BBC & ITV (All Irish channels) Wimbledon 2012

Mackenzie Beach Larnaca (behind Flamingo Hotel) Everyone is welcome for food or drink

For information call 24623761

2. K.S.L LETTINGS – Properties Required for waiting Long Term Tenants. We desperately require 2/3 & 4 bedroom villa’s with private swimming pools for waiting tenants in the Larnaca District. Please call us for a free valuation. Tel.(00357) 24815104 3. K.S.L LETTINGS – largest range of properties. Over 200 rental properties in the Larnaca district at the most competitive rates! Flexible contracts available. Tel. (00357) 24815104 4. WWW.KSLLETTINGS.COM – VILLA FOR RENT Fully furnished 3 bedroom Villa with a good-sized rear garden & Communal pool, located in the village of Oroklini. Call for further information quoting Ref. TLL1189. Tel. (00357) 24815104 CALL 24 815 104 TO ENQUIRE OR ARRANGE A VIEWING – NO OBLIGATION OR FEES. VIEW OUR FULL RANGE OF OVER 200 PROPERTIES BY VISITING WWW.KSLLETTINGS.COM UPDATED DAILY. LANDLORDS ADVERTISE YOUR PROPERTY FOR FREE AND GET WORLD WIDE ADVERTISING – NO TENANT NO FEE ! ****************************

PAPHOS **************************** LUXURY PRIVATE VILLA, 7 bedrooms with bathrooms, S/pool, garden, satellite, T.V, outdoor hot tub-spa, panoramic view, playground.

Pool/billiard/soccer table.

Table tennis. Located at coral Bay area in Pegia village, near town. Is available at a special price. Long or short stay. Tel 96351179 **************************** GREAT VALUE STUDIO FLAT FOR RENT, - Large modern studio flat in small residential block, in central Paphos, 5 minutes from town centre, 2 minutes from motorway, and 10 minutes from Kato Paphos. Separate Living area/ kitchen and bedroom. Fully furnished (washing machine etc.) Covered veranda, and undercover designated parking. Only Euro 215/month inc. communal charges.

Phone 99-310481. **************************** AYIOS DEMETRIANOS 3 bedroom villa with swimming pool, large established garden, sea views, unfurnished, very quiet area. Euro 550 per month - ono. Call: 99127195 **************************** YEROSKIPOU – 3 bed detached bungalow - u/f, a/c, c/h, extra office, large living room, separate kitchen, guest wc, family bathroom, pretty garden, large storage, undercover parking -450 euros for more information call - 9977 4314 ***************************** BEAUTIFUL, 2 BEDROOM APARTMENT, furnished and

40 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Advertiser TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS fully air-conditioned, situated close to Carrefour €330. And a 1 bed new apt, attractive and spacious, furnished with S.pool, in Chlorakas, 500 meters from the St. George hotel €290. OWNERS, TEL 99403261, 26934650 ***************************** GREAT VALUE STUDIO FLAT FOR RENT - Large modern studio flat in small residential block, in central Paphos, 5 minutes from town centre, 2 minutes from motorway, and 10 minutes from Kato Paphos. Separate Living area/ kitchen and bedroom. Fully furnished (washing machine etc.) Covered veranda, and undercover designated parking. Only €215/month inc. communal charges. Phone 99310481. ***************************** 6 BEDROOM, luxury detached villa in Chlorakas, for rent. Breathtaking, unobscured sea and mountain views. Close to all amenities, located in a cul-de-sac in Melanos area with a private road. 6 bed, 2 bathrooms (+2en suite), utility room, outdoor storage, Jacuzzi, private pool, fully A/C, fitted kitchen, large verandas and landscaped gardens. Long term let or sale by owner, call 99414920 ***************************** RENTAL BARGAINS ANARITA: NEW 3/4 bedroom luxury extra spacious villa with A/C, en-suites, utility and swimming pool. Exten-

sive private garden parking. From €600.

TO LET PAPHOS and

KATO PAPHOS – 3 bedroom fully furnished villa with A/C, swimming pool, garden and parking. €600 EMBA – 3 bedroom luxury villa with A/C, garden, parking and good views. €600.

PAPHOS AND SURROUNDING AREAS: 1-2 bedroom NEW Unfurnished/ furnished apartments From €250.

FOR SALE: please call 99 621 875 for many sale opportunities for all categories of properties. **************************** UNIVERSAL: 1 bedroom fully furnished ground floor apartment with freezer, TV, a/c, leather sofas communal swimming pool, very quiet location, near to school and clinic, the utilities should be on tenants name. €280p/m Please call 99400697. **************************** 1. YEROSKIPOU AREA, euro 380, beautiful 2 bed, first floor apartment, fully furnished, large bathroom, large balcony.

2. YEROSKIPOU AREA, 3 bedroom villa with pool, unfurnished, large garden and ample parking. Main bedroom en-suite, ground floor w/c with cloakroom, separate kitchen area. Euro 500 per month 3. UNIVERSAL, 1 bedroom apartment on ground floor with garden, patio to front,

well maintained complex with pool, fully furnished, euro 300 per month ono 4. MESA CHORIO, 2 bedroom apartment , modern furniture, fully equipped, one bedroom en-suite + one bathroom, panoramic views, well maintained complex with pool, euro 400 per month ono MANY MORE PROPERTIES AVAILABLE - CALL : 96753677 **************************** ONE BEDROOM fully furnished apartment for rent in Kissonerga. Near Cynthiana Beach hotel and close proximity to Coral Bay. Overlooking the sea and 100 metres from beach. AC in bedroom.

Tel: 99-492521/ 99- 673276 **************************** PROPERTY TO RENT Chloraka: 3 bedroom u/f detached house, enclosed garden, A/C, oven hob extractor, €550 per month REF: JAP3V159 Tombs Of The Kings: 1st floor F/F apartment, 1 bedroom, st TV, A/C, sea views, communal pool €350 per month REF: JAP1A024 Peyia: 2 bedroom F/F apartment A/C, communal pool, Sauna, Gym. €425 per month neg REF: JAP2A191 Emba: 3 bedroom u/f house, A/C, white goods, communal pool, €500 per month REF: JAP3V053 Peyia: 2 bedroom f/f town-

To All Our Customers Relocation Please note that Abbeygate Offices are re-locating as from the 2nd of July 2012 New Address : Shop 1, 21 Mesogi Ave, Mesogi, Pafos 8280 Cyprus (00-357) 268 19175 or e-mail us via: cyprus@abbeygateinsure.com

TO LET PAPHOS house, sat TV, A/C, flyscreens, Cyta line, communal pool, €400 per month neg REF: JAP2T140 Kato paphos: 2 bedroom furn apartment, shutters, A/C, close to bar street. €400 per month REF: JAP2A186 Peyia: 3 bedroom furnished villa, com pool, enclosed gardens, car port, Internet access, nile sat. A/C. €500 per month neg REF: JAP3V193 Trimathousa. 2 bed f/f townhouse, pets allowed, enclosed garden, quiet road, village setting.REF: JAP2T190 Holiday property management/cleans changeover service available. We urgently require properties in all areas for waiting clients.

JOHN ALICE PROPERTIES TEL: 00357 99984681 WEB: WWW.JOHNALICE-PROPERTIES.COM **************************** FOR RENT a selection of 1,2&3 bedroom houses & apartments f/f & u/f. Universal, Peyia, Tomb of the Kings, Tsada & Chloraka.

Please view at our website www.cyprussands.com or call 99329357. Fully registered company in Cyprus. **************************** PEYIA – 3 bedroom villa with modern quality furniture and finishes. Central heating,

TO LET PAPHOS sky, alarm, infinity pool and stunnning sea and mountain views €700 per month, call : 99389426 **************************** BRAND NEW APT, opposite Poseidonio Gym, near Carrefour, F/F, a/c, great quality, 1 bdrm, from €340p.m.Tel 99403261 ***************************** MR RENT PAPHOS, THE LEADING PROPERTY RENTAL AGENCY IN PAPHOS OFFICE: 26271858 (00357) IF YOU HAVE A PROPERTY TO RENT WE ARE THE RENTAL AGENCY TO CONTACT OFFERING FULL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT & RENT COLLECTION SERVICE 1. LOWER PEYIA €375 beautifully presented modern 2 bedroom townhouse, situated in a quiet complex with lovely communal pool. Fully furnished with modern furniture inc satelitte & internet.

Downstairs guest wc. Fly screens & shutters. Small enclosed courtyard garden with mature shrubs and offering privacy.

2. UNIVERSAL AREA €550 spacious 3 bedroom semi detached house all with ensuite bathrooms plus downstairs guest wc. Large storage room & roof terrace.

Enclosed garden with private pool. Drive for off street park-

TO LET PAPHOS ing. Available unfurnished with sky satellite. Situated in a great central location.

3. SECRET VALLEY (PETRA TOU ROMIOU) €600 modern detached 3 bedroom villa, master with ensuite. Downstairs guest wc. Situated in a peaceful residential area.

Large enclosed landscaped garden with private pool.

Available fully furnished with modern furniture & satelitte TV. 4. KAMARES €675 we are delighted to offer this 2 bedroom 2 bathroom bungalow offering magnificent sea views. Lovely enclosed garden & private pool. Available unfurnished though includes central heating throughout plus modern gas fire for those winter months. Outdoor storage facilities, shaded patio area, fly screens & shutters.

5. TALA €675 unfurnished modern 3 bedroom detached villa offering total privacy & breathtaking sea views. Includes underfloor heating plus real fire. Master with ensuite. Large storage room.

Shutters & flyscreens. Covered veranda, garden with mature plants, private pool offering sea views. Off street parking. a beautiful home.

6. EMBA €700 stunning detached 3 bedroom bungalow, master with ensuite & sepa-

41 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

TO LET PAPHOS rate dressing room. Spacious living area (195 square meters approx) with feature fireplace & gas fire. Beautifully furnished with classic modern furniture. Top of the range kitchen with separate utility room. Private pool & enclosed garden.

Private drive & undercover garage.

7. KONIA €700 new to the market this spacious detached 3 bedroom villa, master with ensuite. Guest wc. Beautifully furnished with quality modern furniture. Separate modern fitted kitchen plus separate utility room. Shutters to all windows. Roof terrace with sea views. Fully enclosed garden with storage shed, covered barbeque area and private pool offering lovely views.

8. ANARITA €1800 amazing 4 bedroom detached villa, this stunning property offers top of the range modern kitchen.

Spacious living rooms, all bedrooms with modern ensuites. Landscaped gardens with private pool offering total privacy & covered barbeque area, great for entertaining.

Available fully furnished or unfurnished & includes gas central heating & so much more.

Tel: 97790883 Tel: 99133422 office: 26271858 visit our website for many more

Advertiser TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS

properties www.mrrentpaphos.net email: info@ mrrent-paphos.net ***************************** RENTAL POINT - PAPHOS **

3. KATHIKAS – 3 bed,2 bath unfurnished stone bungalow with no immediate neighbours. Open plan living area with fireplace with log burner.

Fitted kitchen, utility room.

3 bedrooms, master with en-suite. Family bathroom.

Parking, Swimming pool and landscaped garden areas.

Very quiet area. Euros 600.00 a month

PROPERTIES AVAILABLE TO RENT IN THE PAPHOS DISTRICT. JUST A SMALL SAMPLE OF AVAILABLE PROPERTIES. ALL TYPES OF PROPERTY URGENTLY REQUIRED FOR LONG TERM RENTAL. CALL 97641764 FOR MORE INFORMATION. LANDLORDS CALL IF YOU HAVE A PROPERTY FOR RENT.!!!

1. LOWER PEYIA – 5 bed 2 bath fully furnished villa set in good area. Open plan living area. Separate kitchen with D/W.W/M etc. 2 ground floor bedrooms with bathroom.

Stairs to 3 additional bedrooms and bathroom. Doors out to large roof terrace with views. Outside parking for 3 cars, large swimming pool, BBQ and water feature. Landscaped gardens. A/C. Euros 800.00 a month 2. TRIMITHOUSA 3 bed 2. bath unfurnished apartment/ house set in quiet location with views. Open plan living area and dining area. Fully fitted kitchen with appliances . Guest WC. 3 double bedrooms. Family bathroom.

Large balcony, off-street parking. Euros 400.00 a month.

OFFICE/WAREHOUSE FOR RENT 735m² of office space and 1200m² warehousing available for long term rent on Yianni Kranidioti Avenue very close to Carlsberg Brewery.

Easy access to Nicosia-Limassol highway (only 200 metres).

Loading bays for warehouses and parking space for more than 40 cars. Hidden fuel tank plus car mechanics station.

For more information please call 99218866

4. CHLORAKAS – 2 Bed, 2. bath fully furnished apartments (2 available) in good location close to amenities.

Open plan living area with dining space. Fitted kitchen, 2 double bedrooms. Bathroom. Off street parking & comm. Pool. Euros 395.00 a month inclusive of municipal taxes.

5. GOUDI (near Polis) Outstanding 3 bed, 3.5 bath unfurnished villa. Set in a rural setting the property enjoys privacy with no immediate neighbours. Open plan living area, spacious fitted kitchen.

Guest WC. Ground floor bedroom with en-suite. Stairs to 2 further double bedroom with en-suite. Breakfast area with hob & fridge and seating space. Doors out to large covered verandah with panoramic views. Full A/C, C/H, garage, over-flow tiled pool, SKY dish. Villa has substantial insulation to walls and floors.

Large gardens. Euros 800.00 per month.

6. UNIVERSAL AREA. 2 bed fully furnished apartment.

Living area, fitted kitchen. 2 double bedrooms and family bathroom. A/C, balcony, shutters, comm. Pool and parking. Euros 400.00 a month or offers. 1 & 2 bed apartments available on Universal.

7. TALA - 5 bed, 3.5 bath large fully furnished villa. Very large property with open plan living area. Fitted kitchen, storage cupboard, guest WC. 2 bedrooms, bathroom on this level with small seating area. Ideal for dual living. Stairs up to 3 double bedroom, en-suite & family bathroom. Heated

TO LET PAPHOS swimming pool, A/C, C/H. Electric gates and garden areas. Parking for several cars.

Euros 1500.00 per month or offers.

8. LOWER PEYIA. 3 bed, 3 bath villa. Set in pretty location. Open plan living area, fitted kitchen. Guest WC. 3 bedrooms one with en-suite.

Family bathroom. Pool, landscaped gardens and parking.

Available furnished or unfurnished. Euros 550.00 per month.

FOR FULL LISTINGS OF A PA R T M E N T S / T O W N HOUSES AND VILLA PLEASE CALL FOR DETAILS. ALL TYPES OF PROPERTY URGENTLY REQUIRED FOR LONG TERM RENTAL LANDLORDS/ OWNERS PLEASE CALL PLEASE CALL 97648440 or email:- inforentals@aol. com ****************************** REFURBISHED stone-built village house located in Kili Paphos. Consists of 3 large rooms 1 small. Traditional wood burnt fireplace, fully tiled secluded yard and garage.

Tel: 99210610.

ATHENS ***************************** TO LET 1 BDRM flat for rent in Athens Greece, Zographou area. For information call 99606665. *****************************

PROPERTY FOR SALE NICOSIA ***************************** FLAT FOR SALE/RENT: ‘ITHAKI’ is a small 3 Storey brand new building, only 5 units located in quiet neighbourhood in Strovolos, near Falcon school. ITHAKI has only 2

FOR SALE NICOSIA

FOR SALE PAPHOS

completed 3 bedroom apartments per floor. And on 3rd floor an independent 3 bedroom penthouse with a roof garden. Italian Kitchen, big verandas, big storeroom and convenient parking. PANICOS STAVRINOU ESTATE AGENT R.N.497 99666703 email yemo@cytanet.com.cy ***************************** FOR SALE - Strovolos - Nicosia, 2 storey 3 bedr semi-det/ house in a very quiet area, f/f, A/C & C/H., 3 bathrooms & large room with its own bathroom, behind the house.

Large Veranda and parking for 3 cars. For Quick sale €290,000 - Owners 96560788 ***************************** FOR SALE is a building with 4 flats, each 3 bedroom. 2 on the ground floor with yards, and 2 on the first floor. 2 on first floor completely renovated. Located in quiet area.

Building recently plastered and painted. €850,000 negotiable Call: 99 330 908 ***************************** FOR SALE PENTHOUSE between Armenias Str and Hilton Hotel. 3 bedroom, main bedroom with shower, c/h, fireplace, large verandas. For more information please call: 99467596.

1250 lot.,5 bed.6 bath. maids en suite, walk in basement, beautiful landscape, double garage, large pool, playground, well, quiet neighborhoot. Price 1.550.000 M. Phone 357-99432074,35799552585 ***************************** BARGAIN UNIVERSAL AREA, 2 bedroom apartment fully furnished to very high standards, including all white goods + linen etc in small complex with communal pool, ready to move in €100.000 o.n.o Tel: 96753677 ***************************** KISSONERGA – PAPHOS, 3 bedroom semi-detached house for sale in quiet edge of village, near all facilities shops etc, 2 bath, a/c, fly screens, fans, 6 mins from the beach, title deeds, €115.000 o.n.o tel: 26 950923/ 99987694 ***************************** KATO PAPHOS UNIVERSAL, Large 2 Bedroom apartment, Ground floor, 1 Bathroom, Kitchen, large veranda, private parking, A/C, Satellite TV. Near bus route, shops, banks, quiet apartment. Full furniture. Communal pool.

92 metres covered area. Full TITLE DEEDS. REDUCED €92,000

LIMASSOL ***************************** 2 BEDROOM FLAT LOCATED IN GERMASOYIA with partial sea views, 85sqm. less than 10 years old with title deeds Price € 135.000 tel. 99 330 908 www.cyprusre.com/listing-lim-0361 *****************************

PAPHOS ***************************** TALA, 5 bdrm villa for sale . Title deeds. Sea and mountain view. 5 en-suite double bedrooms. Central heating, a/c, fireplace. Private L shape s/ pool and garden area, patio, with bbq, bar and pergola.

Car parking. Plot: 620 spm Covered: 285sqm, €458.000. tel. 99587757 ***************************** LUXURY VILLA 550 sq.m in

PAPHOS 1 BEDROOM apartment, fantastic central location, lounge kitchen, bathroom, veranda, covered parking, communal pool, Furnished. Near all amenities. TITLE DEEDS NOW REDUCED €45,000. PAPHOS 3 BEDROOM TOWNHOUSE, 2.5 bathrooms, communal pool, A/C, veranda, central location, modern kitchen, utility room, near sea.

Fully furnished. REDUCED Now €145,000 FULL TITLE DEEDS CHLORAKAS, 2 BEDROOM TOWNHOUSE. Exceptional sea views. New kitchen, bedrooms and bathroom.

Private parking, On mains sewage system. Communal pool. A/C, quality fixtures.

Fully furnished. Security barrier. FULL TITLE DEEDS Now €92,000 Call 99716390. *****************************

U SEFUL PHONE NUMBERS POLICE DIVISION HQ

HOSPITALS ........ 1400

Nicosia ........................22 802 020 Limassol ......................25 805 050 Larnaca .......................24 804 040 Paphos ........................26 806 060 Famagusta ..................23 803 030

Nicosia General .............22-801400 Nicosia Makarios ...........22-405000 Limassol Old ................25-305333 Limassol New ................25-801100 Larnaca Old...................24-630312 Larnaca New .................24-630300 Paphos ..........................26-821800 Famagusta ....................23-821211

Drug Law Enforcement Unit ......................................... 1498 (Confidential Information) Rescue Co-ordination Centre ............................. 1441 (Immediate Response Service for Aeronautical or Maritime Accident & Incidents) Game Fund Service: (Wildlife and hunting) Central offices (Nicosia): 22867786, 22-867897 Nicosia: 22-664606, 99-445697 Limassol: 25-343800, 99-445728, Larnaca/Famagusta: 24-805128, 99-634325 Paphos: 26-306211, 99-445679 Forest Fires ..................... 1407

Narcotics Helpline ......... 1410 (Outside hours.............. 22-304160) AIDS Advisory Bureau ................................ 22-302826 Domestic Violence Centre .......................................... 1440 (Emergency Centre for Victims) Drug Info & Poison Control ............... 1401 Cyprus Samaritans ... 77777267 Police Duty Officer ......... 1499 (Confidential Information) Airports Larnaca ..........................77778833 Paphos ...........................77778833

42 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Advertiser FOR PAPHIAKOS ANIMAL WELFARE SOS HELPLINE, 24 HOUR MEDICAL EMERGENCY SERVICE - CALL 99655581 CONTACT DETAILS FOR PAPHIAKOS. Paphiakos & C.C.P. Animal Welfare Education/Information Centre, No. 12 Dedalos Building, 8049 Kato Paphos PO Box 61272 8132 Kato Paphos

CHURCHES ALL SAINTS GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH (ENGLISH) Sunday Divine Liturgy 8-10am. Followed by Fellowship hour (coffee) Services are now being held at the underground Chapel of All Saints of Cyprus at St. Panteleimonos Church Makedonitissa Archangelos (Engomi) For more info please contact Fr. Joseph Coleman Tel. 99938924

Web. www.cyprusanimalwelfare.com www.facebook/paphiakos Email info@cyprusanimalwelfare.com Larnaca Emergency Service - The contact point for animal emergencies in Larnaca is Maria at the Paphiakos Animal Welfare Charity Shop, telephone 24623494 or 99325897 PAPHIAKOS NEW CHARITYSHOP/T.ROOMS NOW OPEN IN PEYIA. T ROOMS NOW OPEN (next to Peyia Police Station) Volunteers and donations needed please contact Suzanne 99151996 for further information.

STOP, SHOP AND GIVE TO THE ANIMALS! ALL DONATIONS ARE WELCOME AT OUR CHARITY SHOPS!!!!!

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH OF AGIOS ARSENIOS, LIMASSOL (near Tsirion Stadium) The Orthodox Liturgy in English Saturday, 4 February at 8:30 am For information please contact: Father M. Spanou at 99 – 401365 (msspanou@googlemail.com)

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST ANDREW AND ST JOHN THE BAPTIST MESA GEITONIA, LIMASSOL The Orthodox Liturgy in English served fortnightly on Saturdays at 9.00 am. We also hold a Discussion Group every Thursday evening at 7.30 pm For information please call Fr. Christopher Klitou Mobile: 99957144 Fax: 25710318 You can email us at: klitoux@logos.cy.net or visit our website: www.christopherklitou.com

Family oriented evangelical church Contemporary Christian Worship Sunday 10am (Holy Communion - 1st Sunday of the month) Sunday School (Juniors and Teens) Outreach and Evangelism Bible Studies

Tel. 99 293489, 99 279960 Email: immanuel.church.nicosia@gmail.com

DEUTSCHE GOTTESDIENSTE IN ZYPERN

LARNAKA COMMUNITY CHURCH APHRODITE STREET, LARNAKA 10.00 AM MORNING SERVICE and SUNDAY SCHOOL For more details ring Fred 24-365152

SEE THE WEBSITE FOR UP TO DATE INFORMATION OR TELEPHONE 26953496

Nikosia: Am 1. und 3. Samstag im Monat in der St. Paul’s Cathedral um 18 Uhr Limassol: Am 2. Sonntag im Monat im Gemeindehaus in Germasogeia um 11 Uhr Am 4. Sonntag im Monat in der St. Barnabaskirche um 18 Uhr Paphos: Am 2. Samstag in der Kirche an der Paulussaeule um 16 Uhr Agia Napa: Am 4. Sonntag im Monat im Hof des Klosters um 9.30 Uhr

Open Door Baptist Church

Näheres Informationen durch Pfarrer Dr. Herold, Tel 25-317092 oder im Internet www.ev-kirche-zypern.de

PAPHIAKOS & C.C.P. BOOK EXCHANGE SHOP TREMITHOUSA

9 Larnakos Street Katholiki Area Limassol Sundays: 9:45, 11:00 AM, 1:30 PM Wednesdays: 7:30 PM 25 751193 or 99 758729 www.cbm-odbc.org

NOW OPEN !!!

BOOKSHOP/INFORMATION CENTRE/T-SHOP IN POLIS CONTACT JUDY 99223572 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND DETAILS.

Paphiakos Book Exchange Shop, Tremithousa. Special Tuesday sales held on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Tuesdays of each month. For more information Tel 99771763/99283467 PAPHIAKOS & C.C.P. ANIMAL WELFARE Registered Charity No 1529 Contact our shops and we can take your clutter The Charity Shops are located at: Shop No.1 Agapinoros Street, Kato Paphos Shop No.2 Ap Pavlou Avenue, Kato Paphos Shop No.3 Gr. Afxentiou Avensia Court 3 Larnaca Shop No.4 9 Ayiou Ioanni Street 3061 Limassol Our shops are always happy to receive your unwanted goods!

SORROW IS WHAT PAPHIAKOS IS ALL ABOUT!!! UPDATE PLEASE SEE OUR WEBSITE OR FACEBOOK FOR THE STORY OF SORROW. EVERY MEMBER OF OUR CLINIC WEPT FOR THIS POOR DOG. PAPHIAKOS ARE DETERMINED THE FUTURE WILL BE BRIGHTER AFTER THE CRUELTY AND TRAUMA. Sorrow is progressing well but will need further surgery. If you can help with donations to assist us to bring Sorrow to full health please contact the clinic on 00357 26946461. www.cyprusanimalwelfare.com PAPHIAKOS CAR BOOT SALE EVERY SATURDAY at the Ambassador Restaurant and outside in the grounds at Paphiakos. Free parking. Sellers from 7am, buyers from 8am. For information & bookings please call MIKE on 96702600.

PAPHIAKOS & C.C.P. ANIMAL WELFARE URGENTLY NEEDS PASTA TO HELP FEED THE DOGS AND SOFT FOOD FOR ALL THE CATS. DONATIONS CAN BE MADE AT THE CLINIC. PLEASE SPONSOR AN ANIMAL OR BECOME A MEMBER TO ENSURE PAPHIAKOS CAN CONTINUE WIH THEIR NECESSARY WORK. Telephone Jan 26946461 ex 114 or 97614008

CHEMISTS NICOSIA SUNDAY 30/06/2012 I. Kitiris, 63 Metochiou St. Tel: 22774950, 22774368 (H) M. Charalambous, 48A Armenia Ave, Acropolis. Tel: 22426655, 22492968 (H) O. Solomou, corner Strovolos & Pythonos St, Strovolos. Tel: 22313123, 22375724 (H) A. Nicolaou, 12 Ay. Andreou St, Pallouriotissa.

Tel. 22430032, 22424078 (H) Ch. Kari, 50 Andrea Avraamide, Tel: 22771999, 22351072 LIMASSOL Chr. Kourtellou, 84 Macedonias & Vas. Constantinou, Tel: 25870288, 25737455 (H) A. Vasiliou 63 Griva Digheni Ave., Tel: 25580906, 25386449 (H) M. Stephanidou, 6 Bishop Laurentiou St. Tel: 25333726, 25382177 LARNACA V. Flouris, St. Lazaros Square. Tel: 24628331, 24667037 (H) E. Vasiliki, Tel: 20 Stratigou Timayia Ave, Tel: 24660688, 24623060 PAPHOS L. Tselepou, 91 E. Venizelou St. Tel: 26954594, 26949276 (H) PARALIMNI P. Loizou, 150 Gr. Dighenis Ave. Tel: 23821368, 23823608 (H)

NICOSIA MONDAY 01/07/2012 L. Tsangaris, Gr. Dighenis Ave. Tel: 22671531, 22439014 (H) E. Matsa, 105E Athalassa Ave. Tel. 22425078, 22428570 (H) Ch. Charalambous, Makarios III Ave & Doiranis. Tel: 22374939, 22877694 (H) Economidou Kefala M., 84C D Ithakis St, Engomi. Tel: 22352933, 22518687 (H) Ch. Filippou, 151A Larnakos Ave., Aglantzia, Tel: 22731020, 22484085 (H) LIMASSOL J. Papachristou, 31 M. Kavazoglou St. Tel: 25565267, 25340982 (H) A. Polycarpou, 225 Makarios Ave. Tel: 25588346, 25318417 (H) M. Demetriou, 18 Petrou Tsirou Tel: 25339191, 25332813 (H) LARNACA P. Apostolides, 20 K. Lysiotis St. Tel: 24627213, 24423271 (H) A. D. Koulouma, 16A Larnaca. Limassol Rd. Tel: 24642333, 24661155 (H) PAPHOS K. G. Filippidou, 93 E. Pallikarides St. Tel: 26949259, 26922670 (H) PARALIMNI Ch. X. Alapai, 8 Gr. Dighenis Ave. Tel: 23742002, 23744155 (H)

DOCTORS ON DUTY NICOSIA Pathologist: Doros Polidorou, Tel: 99727817 Urologist: Achilleas Corellis, Tel: 70007773, 99562642 Gynaecologist: Aphrodite Elisseou, Tel: 99421050 Paediatric Surgeon: Panicos Theodorou, Tel: 22469000, 99612311 Dentist: Maria Sozou, Tel: 22676616, 99617867 LIMASSOL Path Pathologist: Polikarpos Evripidou, Tel.: 99514910, 25251919 Surgeon: Yiannakis Panayi, Tel.: 25346014, 25336662 Neuro-Surgeon: Christos Kyriakides, Tel: 99696706 Paediatric: Ntora Stephanou, Tel.: 25382933,99525716 Paediatric Surgeon: Elka Christofi, Tel: 25762586, 99306678 Ophthalmologist: Andreas Elia, Tel: 25725134,25353424, 99675811 Doctor: Lampros Theodosiou, Tel: 25581712, 99624372

GRACE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH Invites you to COME AND EXPERIEBNCE THE LOVE OF GOD WITH US Int. Christian Business Fellowship Meeting Centre Sundays: 10.00am Sunday School 11.00 am Main Service (Dine with us centre services) Wednesdays: Prayer meeting 6pm Address: To Arsinois Str., 1010 Nicosia (Next to Western Union Office to KISA) Contact: 99988900 or 97667932.

VISITORS ESPECIALLY WELCOME!!!

THE REFORMED CHURCH OF LIMASSOL Clear exposition of the Bible in the presence of God, and relevant to our lives.

Our Sunday services start at 10:30 am sharp, and the Wednesday Bible discussion at 7 pm.

International Evangelical Church (Reformed) is located at 352 St. Andrew’s Street. 1½ blocks from Starbucks / Fat Boy, and 1 block from the Municipal Gardens, Zoo. For further information call Steve at 99384742, or email: iee.limassol@gmail.com All are welcome!

NICOSIA CHRISTIAN CENTRE 10 PINDOU STR, ENGOMI, NICOSIA, TEL. 22464375 SERVICES: SUNDAY 10AM, WEDNESDAY 8PM St Barnabas’ Anglican Church 153 Leontiou A Street Limassol www.stbarnabas-cyprus.com Telephone: 25362713 - All welcome HOLY CROSS CATHOLIC CHURCH, PAPHOS GATE, NICOSIA Sunday Masses: Saturdays 6.30 pm, Sundays 8.00am, 9.30am & 6.30pm Weekday Masses: 6.30 pm Monday to Friday Tel: 22662132 Email: holcross@logos.cy.net

GRACE CHURCH, LARNACA 8 Ayiou Neofytou St Sundays 10 a.m.

Also Midweek Meetings Details: Colin 24530700

The Anglican Church of Paphos Ayia Kyriaki (St. Paul by the Pillar) Sunday 8.15am Holy Eucharist 6.00pm Sung Eucharist 4th Sunday 6.00pm Choral Evensong Wednesday 9.00am Holy Eucharist 3rd Wednesday (BCP) St. Stephen’s, Tala 1st & 3rd Sunday 11.00 am Holy Eucharist 2nd & 4th Sunday 11.00am Morning Worship St. Luke’s, Prodromi 1st & 5th Sunday 9.30am Morning Worship 2nd , 3rd & 4th Sunday 9.30am Holy Eucharist 1st & 3rd Wednesday 9.30am Holy Eucharist 1st Sunday 6.00 p.m. Peace & Wholeness with Holy Eucharist 4th Sunday every quarter 9.30 am Holy Eucharist from BPC Church Office: 26-953044 Fax: 26-952486 Email: anglicancofp@cytanet.com.cy for directions to each church

St Helena’s Anglican Church, Larnaca St Helena’s Court, Grigoris Afx Sunday Service: Holy Communion 9.30 am ALL WELCOME Tel:24651327 office@sainthelenas.com

International EVANGELICAL CHURCH (Reformed) Limassol 352 St. Andrew’s Street (1½ blocks from Starbucks/Fat Boy) Sunday worship 10:30am Wednesday Bible Discussion 7pm For info: 99384742 ALL ARE WELCOME

43 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Compiled by Rosie Ogden

Motoring

New technology reduces risk of motorway rear-end impacts Volvo safety systems deliver ‘significant benefits’ THE final report from the EuroFOT research project, which has brought together 28 European companies and organisations, confirms that Volvo Car Corporation’s systems to help drivers avoid incidents and collisions deliver ‘significant benefits’.

A car with adaptive cruise control and collision warning, for instance, cuts the risk of colliding with the vehicle in front on a motorway by up to 42 per cent.

The large-scale European Field Operational Test on Active Safety Systems (EuroFOT) is a research

Collision Warning with Full Auto Brake detects, alerts and brakes if the car risks hitting another vehicle from behind project supported by European funds that involves 28 organisations.

Volvo’s participation involved one hundred V70 and XC70 models with a

total of 263 drivers. All the cars were fitted with cameras and sensors that registered every second of every journey for 18 months, so that every little incident

and situation could be studied and evaluated.

“The analyses show that our world-leading focus on new safety and support technologies delivers

results in everyday traffic conditions. Since the start of EuroFOT, we have presented a number of new systems and in addition refined already existing tech-

nologies. One example is Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake, which alerts the driver and automatically brakes the car if there is a pedestrian in the road” says Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President Research & Development at Volvo Car Corporation.

Analysis of the Volvos used in EuroFOT focused on five technological solutions: ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) maintains a preset gap to the vehicle in front.

CW (Collision Warning) alerts the driver if a collision with the vehicle in front is imminent. At the same time, the brakes are prepared for firm braking.

BLIS (Blind Sport Information System) alerts the driver to vehicles in the blind spots on both sides of the car.

LDW (Lane Departure Warning) warns the driver if the vehicle strays across any of the lane markings.

DAC (Driver Alert Control) is designed to detect tiredness and warn the driver.

Skoda Citigo wins at Auto Express awards AT its annual New Car Awards, held at the Connaught Rooms in London’s West End, Auto Express this week named the Skoda Citigo as its Car of the Year 2012.

In total, Skoda won five awards, with the Citigo also being named best City Car, the Superb winning the Best Family Car and Best Estate Car Awards and the Skoda brand taking the Driver Power Award for customer satisfaction.

The awards show just how far the Czech carmaker has come in recent years, shaking off the old jokes and putting many of its competitors in the shade by offering a lot of car for your money.

Auto Express editor-in-chief, Steve Fowler, commented: “These Car of the Year Awards are proof that Skoda’s now a big league car maker - and in many ways it’s outshining parent brand VW!” “The Citigo offers small car buyers the space, quality and comfort normally associated with much larger cars, but at a fraction of the cost. It’s simply sensational value-formoney.”

Land Rover’s Discovery won a record eighth consecutive Auto Express Award as it was named Best Large SUV, while last year’s Car of the Year, the Range Rover Evoque, was named Best Compact SUV for the second year running.

Peugeot garnered two awards: the 208 won the Best Supermini Class. Fowler said “Peugeot is back on top of the small car class. The 208 has

CAR AWARDS WINNERS 2012 City Car: Skoda Citigo Supermini: Peugeot 208 Compact Family Car: BMW 1 Series Family Car: Skoda Superb Five-seat MPV: Ford C-MAX Seven-seat MPV: SEAT Alhambra Estate Car: Skoda Superb Crossover: Mazda CX-5 Compact SUV: Range Rover Evoque Large SUV: Land Rover Discovery Hot Hatch: Ford Focus ST Convertible: Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet Coupé: Peugeot RCZ Roadster: Porsche Boxster Pick-up: VW Amarok Compact Executive Car: BMW 3 Series Executive Car: BMW 5 Series Luxury Car: Mercedes S-Class Performance Car: Ferrari 458 Italia Green Award: Vauxhall Ampera Design Award: Jaguar C-X16 Driver Power Award: Skoda got it all: style, quality, space and kit, while it’s good to drive and super-efficient, too.”

For the third year running, the Peugeot RCZ Sports Coupé won the Best Coupé Class, “thanks to its winning blend of great styling and agile handling. Even better, it’s much more affordable than its looks suggest.”

With its ‘exceptionally generous equipment levels,

class-leading comfort, superior safety standards and extensive range of engines’, the Mercedes S-Class retained its position at the top of the luxury saloon sector, winning Best Luxury Car for the seventh consecutive year.

Jaguar’s C-X16 concept car, previewing the new Jaguar FType, won the Design Award voted for by users of AutoExpress.co.uk.

The Skoda Citigo was voted the magazine’s Car of the Year 2012

44 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Sport Washington survive Braves fightback THE Washington Nationals tightened their grip at the top of the National League East division by withstanding an Atlanta Braves fightback to eke out a 5-4 victory at Turner Field on Friday.

Michael Morse had a big night with the bat for the Nationals, going four-for-four and pumping the winning run with a solo homer in the top of the eighth inning.

The right fielder has been in a purple patch of form recently and is 12 from 19 dating back to their recent series against the Rockies with a double and two home runs in his last four games.

“He’s been looking better and better every day,” Washington manager Davey Johnson told reporters.

“In Colorado, he started to look more relaxed, more comfortable in there. Shoot, he’s back getting easy hits, so it’s nice to have him back.”

The Nationals appeared to be coasting to victory on the back of pitcher Ross Detwiler, who had kept the Braves scoreless for six innings to help the visitors open a 4-0 lead.

Detwiler also proved his worth with the bat by bringing in Morse for the opening run in the second inning with a single to right field.

Ian Desmond hammered the Braves for two fielding errors in the third by driving in Adam LaRoche and Morse for a 3-0 lead, with Jesus Flores hitting a solo home run in the fourth as the visitors looked to have the game wrapped up.

But Detwiler fatigued in the seventh, firstly hitting Freddie Freeman with a curveball, then allowing a Jack Wilson bunt single as the momentum shifted.

Martin Prado singled to bring Freeman in before Michael Bourn sent a sacrifice fly to left field to cut the lead to just two runs.

Detwiler barely survived the hook but his night ended shortly after when Andrelton Simmons sent the ball over the wall for a two-run homer to tie the scores at 4-4 and take away the pitchers claim on the win.

Morse, however, had the final say and his homer in the eighth helped Washington improve to 44-31 while the Braves dropped to 40-36 in their quest to chase down their division rivals.

“I’m starting to have better at-bats,” Morse said.

“I’m starting to see pitches, recognise pitches. It comes with, basically, at-bats and seeing the ball more and just being at the plate, up at the plate, watching the pitcher.

“Any time you play a division team, it’s important, especially when you’re in first place like we are. Our division games are the most important games.”

Blake shocks Bolt in Jamaica Olympic trials 100m win makes Blake fourth fastest man

By Steve Keating YOHAN Blake delivered a shock that will be felt all the way to London by exploding past world record holder Usain Bolt to claim a stunning 100 metres victory at the Jamaican Olympic trials on Friday.

The showdown between triple Olympic champion Bolt and world champion Blake lived up to its billing as the highlight of the fourday meeting as ‘The Beast’ roared home in a dazzling 9.75 seconds, a personal best and fastest in the world this year.

The time also made Blake the fourth fastest man of all time behind Bolt (9.58), American Tyson Gay (9.69) and Asafa Powell (9.72).

“No pressure at all... everything is good. I’m just fortunate,” Blake said after eclipsing his personal best of 9.82.

“I’m the national champion of Jamaica now, I go into the Olympics like this.”

Bolt, who was unable to reel in his training partner, settled for second in 9.86 followed by former world record holder Powell in 9.88.

All three men qualified for the Jamaican Olympic team and will line up against a formidable American contingent at the London Games starting on July 27.

“We are right where we want to be going into London,” Glen Mills, who coaches both Blake and Bolt, told Reuters.

“We just want to keep them healthy. The strategy, we didn’t send him (Blake) to Europe and he is in far better shape than Bolt at this time.

“We have four weeks (until

Bolt (front right), who was unable to reel in training partner Blake (left), had to settle for second in 9.86, followed by former world record holder Powell in 9.88 the Olympics) and we will take it in stride. We know what to do, so we’ll get there.

“Bolt is a tough cookie and I think he will survive.”

The men were not the only ones delivering excitement as women’s 100m Olympic champion Shelly-Ann FraserPryce provided some magic of her own by blazing to victory in 10.70 seconds, equaling the seventh fastest time in the event.

Only Americans Florence Griffith-Joyner, Carmelita Jeter and Marion Jones have run faster.

Veronica Campbell-Brown, a double Olympic gold medalist in the 200m, was a distant second in 10.82 with Kerron Stewart third on 10.94.

“I set a national record tonight and there is nothing else I could ask for,” FraserPryce said.

“I’m looking forward to the Olympics and defending my championship. It has been in the works. My coach said I could break the record and I did it.

“I worked really hard for this. I am not afraid of anybody.”

The Bolt-Blake showdown left a capacity crowd that included Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller on the edge of their seats with the highspeed drama building steadily throughout a calm, muggy evening.

The semi-finals got the vuvuzelas blowing and drums pounding before FraserPryce set the stage for the evening finale with her electrifying run.

The race marked the first meeting between the training partners since last year’s world championships when Blake claimed Bolt’s crown

after the latter was disqualified from the final for a false start.

There were no such gifts on offer on Friday but Blake showed the Daegu win was no fluke when he exploded from the blocks and could not be caught.

“I thought it was a good race but everybody kept moving in the blocks and that kind of threw me off,” Bolt said.

“I think overall I executed through the first 60 metres but the last part not so good, overall it was OK. “For me it is just one of those things.”

As well as the sprinters, a Jamaican team that is expected to light up the London Olympics continued to take shape with 400m hurdles Olympic and world champion Melanie Walker securing her spot by winning in an impressive 54.77.

Morgan leads England to narrow win EOIN Morgan’s brilliant unbeaten 89 led England to a 15-run victory over Australia in an entertaining first oneday international at Lord’s on Friday.

Morgan struck 89 off 63 balls to lift the hosts to a total of 272 for five and the touring side always threatened to reach their target thanks to fluent half-centuries from David Warner and captain Michael Clarke.

“For Eoin to score at a strike rate of 130 or 140 is an incredible innings,” said England skipper Alastair Cook. “It was hard work to start with at the top of the batting order, the ball was nipping around a bit, but what was pleasing is that we didn’t panic.”

Clarke won the toss on a rainy morning and England’s innings was built around a solid opening partnership of 74 between Alastair Cook and Ian Bell. Cook made 40 and Bell 41 to give their team a good platform.

Jonathan Trott contributed a useful 54 off 70 balls before Morgan struck four sixes and five fours in a fierce late assault on the Australian bowlers to lift England to an imposing total.

Australia lost the wicket of Shane Watson early in their chase, but Warner made 56 off 61 balls to give them momentum. However, he edged a catch to wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter off James Anderson and George Bailey, David Hussey and Steve Smith fell cheaply to leave the Australians struggling on 147 for five.

Clarke then found a useful ally in wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade and the pair added 57 for the sixth wicket to give Australia hope. Wade was run out for 27 when he failed to respond to Clarke’s call.

The captain smashed a huge six off Graeme Swann to reach his half-century before falling lbw to Tim Bresnan for 61.

Brett Lee made a defiant unbeaten 29, but Clint McKay and Pat Cummins fell cheaply and England’s bowling attack maintained control in the closing overs to seal victory.

USADA will file doping charges against Armstrong THE US Anti-Doping Agency have confirmed they are to file formal doping charges against Lance Armstrong which could see the cyclist lose his record-breaking total of seven Tour de France titles.

The organisation issued a statement which revealed an independent threeperson Anti-Doping Review Board had unanimously recommended going ahead with legal proceedings.

An arbitration panel will now rule on the case.

A statement from USADA CEO Travis T Tygart said: “USADA can confirm that the independent three-person Anti-Doping Review Board (ADRB) has conducted a full evaluation and has made a unani-

mous recommendation to move forward with the adjudication process in accordance with the rules.

“All respondents will have the opportunity to exercise their right to a full public arbitration hearing, should they so choose, where all evidence would be presented, witness testimony would be given under oath, and an independent group of arbitrators would ultimately decide the outcome of the case.

“USADA will continue to follow the established procedures that are compliant with federal law and were approved by athletes, the US Olympic Committee, and all Olympic sports organisations.”

Armstrong, 40, has always denied all al-

legations of doping and reacted angrily when the USADA initiated legal proceedings over “allegations of anti-doping rule violations” during his time with the United States Postal Service (USPS) cycling team. He said the agency were dredging up discredited accusations.

Armstrong survived testicular cancer and went on to win seven consecutive Tour de France titles from 1999 to 2005 while competing for the US Postal Service team and the Discovery Channel team.

He retired after the 2005 Tour de France, but returned in 2009, riding for Astana Cycling and RadioShack before retiring for a second time in February 2011, taking up triathlon earlier this year.

Morgan’s unbeaten 89 led England to a 15-run victory over Australia

45 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

Sport Casey Stoner draws level with Jorge Lorenzo

Stoner (above) wiped out Lorenzo’s 25-point lead

CASEY Stoner drew level with Jorge Lorenzo in the MotoGP title race after winning the Dutch Grand Prix in Assen.

Lorenzo saw his 25-point championship lead wiped out by Stoner after he was taken out by Alvaro Bautista on the first corner of the race.

Stoner started from pole position and held off his Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa to win, with Andrea Dovizioso claiming third place after overtaking Ben Spies on the final lap.

The Australian drew level with Lorenzo on 140 points in the MotoGP title standings with Pedrosa third on 121 and Britain’s Cal Crutchlow fourth with 77.

Crutchlow, racing two weeks after breaking his ankle, was hampered by

the early crash and dropped back to 15th place but he recovered well to finish fifth.

‘BIG CRASH’ Stoner told BBC Sport after his third win of the season: “I didn’t see that Lorenzo had crashed as I was focused on the fight at the front but what a difference a day makes.

“I had a big crash in practice on Friday but we managed to pull through for the race. Today has worked out perfectly for me.”

Lorenzo was left furious with Bautista for the collision, an incident which has been placed under investigation by race officials.

Stoner later Tweeted: “I feel sorry for

@lorenzo99 he doesn’t deserve that to happen and I don’t want points that way. Thanks for everyone’s support today!!”

The two Honda riders dominated the race and Stoner took the lead from Pedrosa with 10 laps remaining.

Some of the most exciting action came from watching Crutchlow pick his way through the field and then battle past Hector Barbera, Valentino Rossi and then Nicky Hayden to finish a creditable fifth.

Dovizioso caught up with Spies with three laps remaining and the pair were involved a thrilling tussle for the final podium position.

Dovizioso made his move heading into turn one of the final lap and then held his advantage to claim third place.

Federer: upsets are good for tennis

Rosol is bundled out of Wimbledon Conqueror of Rafael Nadal falls in straight sets against the experienced Kohlschreiber

By Wayne Gardiner RAFAEL Nadal’s conqueror Lukas Rosol fell on his sword at Wimbledon yesterday as he fell in straight sets to Philipp Kohlschreiber.

The previously-unheralded Czech has been the talk of the tournament since his sensational second-round dumping of Nadal on Thursday night, and there was not a spare seat to be had as he took on the experienced German on Court 12.

But it proved to be a game too far for the 26-year-old as he surrendered 6-2 6-3 7-6 (8/6) and, although his reputation has been enhanced, he leaves London still having failed to progress beyond the third round of a grand slam.

His name will live long on SW19 folklore, though, and

the likes of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray may well be thanking him for a long time to come should they win the tournament in the absence of second seed Nadal.

WINDY OUTER COURT He could have done with their help yesterday as he seemingly struggled to adapt to being away from the limelight out on a windy outer court that was a far cry from the lights and roof of Centre.

Rosol contested a line call in the opening game - forgetting Hawkeye was not available to him as it had been on Centre - and, while those packed inside craned to take photos of Wimbledon’s latest giant-killer, his serve was broken in just the third game when he was unable to find the audacious

winners that he did against Nadal.

The tidy Kohlschreiber was receiving little if any support from the crowd but went about his business effectively, breaking again in the seventh game and then serving the set out to 15.

He continued his impressive form into the second set, breaking twice more as Rosol became visibly frustrated at his inability to scale the heights he had less than 48 hours earlier.

He did show some fight in the third set, taking it to a tie-break and then saving three match points when 6-3 down, but when he planted a backhand wide it handed Kohlschreiber a deserved win.

That did not stop Rosol soaking up the adulation of the crowd, however, even if at this stage it was not intended for him.

Giant-killer falls: Rosol will have to content himself this year with having entered SW19 folklore

Grunting: it could take years to lower the volume

World number one Sharapova is all for the plan, but don’t expect her to turn into a silent presence on Centre Court

The Swiss maestro looked like he might go the way of Rafa Nadal on Friday

TENNIS authorities will tackle the perennial problem of grunting players - but it could take years to turn down the volume.

So do not throw the earplugs away quite yet and if your daughter is a four-year-old tennis prodigy, make sure she keeps the noise down.

Talks are under way to arm umpires with handheld “grunt-o-meters” on court, so that they can assess how loud shrieks are.

Such devices are unlikely to be introduced anytime soon but the wheels have been set in motion so that future generations of tennis fans do not have to put up with that problem.

Women’s tour the WTA has recognised there is a problem and decided on a grass roots approach to the issue - educate the youngsters before they go into “grunt overdrive”.

“The WTA, ITF (International Tennis Federation) and Grand Slams aim to drive excessive grunting out of the game while ensuring that we do not drive our current generation of players - who were taught this way - out of the game,” said WTA chief Stacey Allaster.

“This is the start of a sport-wide plan responsibly dealing with the issue through player education and objective rule changes,” she added.

Nine-times Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova thinks that grunting is cheating.

Serena Williams has said she does not even

know she is doing it and Maria Sharapova has been doing it since she was four.

But it is not a new issue.

Jimmy Connors grunted his way to eight grand slam victories in the 1970s and 80s and Ivan Lendl complained Andre Agassi’s grunting put him off.

But today it is female players who are under the spotlight as the main “decibel demons”.

World number one Sharapova is all for the plan, but do not expect her to turn into a silent presence on Centre Court.

She was asked if she could play more quietly.

“Certainly not now as I have been doing it since I was four years old,” she said. “It’s definitely tough and impossible to do when you’ve played this sport for over 20 years.”

Sharapova, talking to reporters after making it into the Wimbledon third round on Thursday, said she had talked to Allaster about the problem.

“It’s the first person actually that sat down with many people and coaches and sports psychologists and analysts and really reviewed what could be done,” she said. “I’m really happy with the system she put forward. Going to the juniors, going to the academies that are producing the young players ... I think it’s extremely smart.”

ROGER Federer narrowly avoided joining Rafael Nadal in a second-round exit at Wimbledon, and then declared the Spaniard’s loss good for the sport.

Nadal’s five-set defeat by little-known Czech Lukas Rosol on Thursday night was one of tennis’ great upsets, and it looked like it would be followed by another when sixtime Wimbledon champion Roger Federer trailed Julien Benneteau by two sets to love Friday night.

The Swiss has reached at least the quarter-finals at the last 32 grand slams, and he kept alive his hopes of extending that record by turning things round to win 4-6 6-7 (3/7) 6-2 7-6 (8/6) 6-1.

Twenty-eight of the last 29 slams have been won by Federer, Nadal or Novak Djokovic, with Juan Martin Del Potro the only man to break the sequence.

Federer said: “Well, this is not against Rafa, but it was nice to see it’s still possible.

I think 15 years ago you had matches like this so much more often on the faster surfaces, that a guy could catch fire and just run through you.

“What this victory of Rosol does is give great belief for other players that they can beat the top guys, which I think is great, even though it might not be that great for me down the stretch.

Hopefully not. But it’s just great for the sport that it is possible.”

Benneteau was justifiably proud of his performance, and he said: “After a match like that, you’re a better player, for sure. So even if I lost, I think it’s going to be positive for me for the rest of the season and also for my career.”

World number one Djokovic also had a minor scare when he dropped the first set to 28th seed Radek Stepanek before recovering to triumph 4-6 6-2 6-2 6-2.

“You cannot take anyone for granted,” said Djokovic. “You just say congratulations.

(What happened to Nadal) serves as an example for everybody that anything is possible in this sport.”

46 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Sport Bale ruled out of GB Olympic football squad TOTTENHAM winger Gareth Bale has suffered an injury that will rule him out of Great Britain’s Olympic football squad, Press Association Sport understands.

Bale was widely anticipated to be included in manager Stuart Pearce’s GB team for the Olympic tournament starting at the end of next month.

But it is understood the 22-year-old Wales international has suffered a recurrence of an old back and hip injury after pulling up while running.

Bale is understood to be reluctant to risk aggravating the problem further, with Tottenham’s Barclays Premier League opener at Newcastle just seven weeks away.

The player, who earlier this week pledged his future to Spurs by signing a new four-year contract to 2016,

is believed to have already informed Pearce of his decision to make himself unavailable for selection after taking medical advice.

ONCE LIKELY STAR Bale had been held up as a likely star turn for Team GB, and his absence will come as a further blow to fans already shocked by Pearce’s controversial decision to omit former England captain David Beckham from his squad.

Bale has previously made little secret of his desire to represent GB at the Olympics, and last year risked the wrath of the Welsh FA by posing in a British Olympic team shirt without their permission.

The Welsh, Northern Irish and Scot-

tish FAs have been vocal in their opposition to providing players to a British team since the Games were awarded to London, although the Welsh have long been resigned to a number of their players taking part.

Bale’s absence means it will instead fall to Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy - who along with Micah Richards comprise the three over-age players in the squad - to lead the Welsh contingent in Pearce’s 18-man selection, which will be formally unveiled on Monday.

Team GB have been drawn in Group A at the London Games with Senegal, Uruguay and United Arab Emirates.

Pearce’s men begin their campaign against Senegal at Old Trafford on July 26 before playing the UAE at Wembley on July 29 and Uruguay at the Millennium Stadium on August 1.

Bale (left) has previously made little secret of his desire to represent Great britain at the 2012 Olympic Games

Fergie unsure of United tour line-up

Fans’ favourite Dominguez sad to leave Atletico Madrid

SIR Alex Ferguson has no idea who will be on Manchester United’s summer tour of South Africa and China.

The United boss has confirmed new arrivals Shinji Kagawa and Nick Powell will be making their first Red Devils’ appearances on the trip.

However, the remainder of his squad is open to considerable doubt for the simple reason Ferguson does not know who he will be able to pick.

Most of his Euro 2012 stars have been ruled out, with the likely exception of goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard, who did not play as Denmark crashed out in the group stage.

Under normal circumstances, Ferguson would call up some of his younger players, but three of them have been picked for the European Under-19 Championships next month.

And to create even more confusion, there could be more players selected for Olympic duty in addition to Ryan Giggs, who is going to be named as an overage player in Stuart Pearce’s squad, and David de Gea, who is certain to be selected for Spain.

Add in Nemanja Vidic, Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans, Javier Hernandez and Darren Fletcher, who all ended last season under some sort of injury cloud, and it is little wonder Ferguson’s options are so limited.

“It’s obviously very difficult in a year when we have had a Euro tournament and we also have the Olympics,” said Ferguson.

“The final squad hasn’t been decided yet but we will be taking the strongest team we have available.

“We are all looking forward to the pre-season tour. I am delighted that our newest signings, Shinji Kagawa and Nick Powell, will be in the travelling squad along with more established players such as Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Ji-sung Park.”

Spain international headed for Bundesliga SPAIN international Alvaro Dominguez has bid an emotional farewell to Atletico Madrid after agreeing a fiveyear deal to join Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach.

A product of the Atleti youth system, Dominguez made over 70 appearances for the Spanish side in the past four seasons and was part of the team that won the Europa League in 2010 and 2012, but he had seen his opportunities limited since the arrival of Diego Simeone as manager in January.

The 23-year-old though was still called up to Vicente Del Bosque’s preliminary Spanish squad for the European Championship and made his full international debut in the 2-0 win over Serbia last month.

Monchengladbach will initially pay around 8million euros for the player’s services with potentially a further 2mil euros to come in add-ons.

“It has been very nice for me to be in this house since I was 13 years old,” he told AS. “I have felt incredible and the last few years we have been able to make Atletico a big club in Europe again.

I hope it continues like this and I will continue to feel like an Atleti fan wherever I go.

“I am young, I am ambitious and I want to experience other things and other big leagues. I will always take this club in my heart and I don’t have the feeling I am leaving through the back door, I have helped to win two European titles in the past three years.

“I am happy and excited because Germany is a big opportunity for me. I leave priv-

Dominguez (left), who has been signed by Borussia Monchengladbach, had seen his opportunities limited since the arrival of Diego Simeone as Atletico Madrid manager in January ileged to have been a part of this club and wherever I go I will always have these people and this fanbase with me.”

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid’s new signing Cata Diaz does not believe there is extra pressure on him to succeed despite his arrival precipitating the departure of Dominguez.

Diaz has moved across the Spanish capital after five

years at Getafe in a onemillion euro move as fans’ favourite Dominguez takes his leave of the club, but the Argentinian is relishing the challenge of moving up a level in terms of expectation at Atleti.

He told AS, “He (Dominguez) has played here, come through the academy and is important for the club but I have come here to do my bit

and I have the same pressure all players have when they arrive at a new club.

“I don’t think that my coming here and Dominguez leaving will bring me more pressure than the others.

“When a team like Atletico became interested in me I wasn’t in any doubt.

“I am arriving with a lot of desire and happiness. I want to demonstrate that on the pitch

‘I leave privileged to have been a part of this club and wherever I go I will always have these people and this fanbase with me’

because with words I can’t say very much. I hope it will be a good year for the team.”

Diaz is also looking forward to working with his compatriot Diego Simeone who guided Atleti to the Europa League title within six months of taking charge of Los Colchoneros.

“Once the training sessions begin I will get to know him more. I have spoken to him a couple of times but I don’t know him as a coach yet.

“I don’t have any doubt over his capabilities and I am very happy that he could be my coach.

“I think that if a manager and his team bring you to a big team it is because for them you are an important part of the project.”

47 SUNDAY MAIL • July 1, 2012

Euro 2012

Maturing Balotelli puts his side’s laurels before his own

Platini floats the idea of a multi-state Euro 2020

Would give up Golden Boot shot for Italy victory

UEFA president Michel Platini has revealed the concept of one or two countries staging major tournaments may be abandoned for Euro 2020.

Turkey had been favourites to host the event, but their bid has hit difficulties due to a desire to host the Olympic Games in Istanbul in the same year.

And Platini has confirmed a radical alternative is now being considered.

“The Euros in 2020 could be held all over Europe,” said Platini.

“It could be either one country and 12 stadiums or one stadium in 12 or 13 cities.”

Platini confirmed a final decision would be taken in January or February next year.

“This matter will be discussed very seriously,” he added.

Platini continued: “We will have a great debate about 2020 and discuss the pros and cons.

“Then we will make a decision. I think it is a great idea.”

Platini repeated his opposition to goal-line technology.

“I am against technology,” he told the press conference in Kiev.

“Where do we stop? There was a mistake in the Ukraine-England game.

But there was an offside before that.”

UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said the controversial additional referees behind the goal would remain and also cited Ukraine’s effort against England as the only error.

“There was full support for the system of additional referees to continue,” he said.

“The experiment has been extremely positive. In over a thousand matches, there has been one mistake.”

Infantino revealed that the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff will host the UEFA Super Cup in August 2014, with Tblisi in Georgia playing host in 2015.

By Simon Stone MARIO Balotelli would happily sacrifice his shot at the Golden Boot prize if it meant Italy won Euro 2012.

Much has been made of Cristiano Ronaldo’s failure to take a penalty during Portugal’s shoot-out defeat to Spain on Wednesday amid claims the former Manchester United man wished to take the last kick because it offered more personal glory.

At the start of the tournament, it would have been easy to imagine Balotelli taking a similar stance.

However, throughout Italy’s run to today’s final against Spain, the 21-year-old has acted with a rare maturity.

And, though he is the only one still involved amongst a group of players level on three goals, Balotelli insists the personal glory is not his overall aim.

“If we win and I score, it will be amazing,” he said.

“If I don’t score and we win it will still be amazing.

“I am really happy at the moment and on Sunday I hope I will be even happier.

“We are in the final. We are one of the two best teams in the tournament. We have to go there and play to win.”

And should the Azzurri triumph today, he will have winners’ medals in a major international tournament, in addition to the Champions League, titles in England and Italy, plus the FA Cup. Not bad for someone who is still regarded as a joke player by his critics.

Yet throughout all the controversy that has raged

For most of the past two years, Italy’s Balotelli (above left) has been compared unfavourably to City team-mate David Silva (below right), who will be waiting to meet him in the opposing Spain line-up in the Euro 2012 final today around Balotelli this season, City boss Roberto Mancini has continued to insist he was worth the effort.

Mancini has been left exasperated and amused in equal measure by his Inter Milan protege’s antics.

But he always knew Balotelli had immense talent, which is what Italy are reaping the benefits of now.

“We won the league at Manchester City so having a good season for me doesn’t depend on winning the Euros,” he said.

“If we don’t win it, it

wouldn’t spoil the other things but it would be special.”

For most of the last two years, Balotelli has been compared unfavourably to City team-mate David Silva, who has not given Mancini a moment’s trouble since his arrival from Valencia.

Silva is part of a Blues dressing room that holds Balotelli in genuine affection, for all the diversions he has caused.

Today though, they will be on opposite sides. It is a challenge Balotelli is relishing.

“I know David very well,” said Balotelli. “I played against him in the first game.

It is going to be fun.”

Balotelli does not think the City fans will hold it against him that he helped knock England out of the tournament.

Asked if he would return to Italy, he said in The Sun: “Come back now? I go back to Manchester.

“The City fans always want me, even though they are British - and I have helped eliminate their national team.”

Spain keeper Casillas hails his Italy counterpart Buffon

High praise: Iker Casillas (left) has expressed his great admiration for Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (right)

SPANISH goalkeeper Iker Casillas has spoken of his huge admiration for his Italian counterpart Gianluigi Buffon.

Both men will captain their respective countries in today’s Euro 2012 final in Kiev and Casillas is expecting a close encounter similar to the 1-1 draw between the two in their opening game of the tournament.

“Buffon has my admiration and maximum respect,” he told Onda Madrid.

“He is an exceptional goalkeeper and at 34 is still amongst the best. For goalkeepers that are a little younger than him he has been a reference, he has driven us and we wanted to be like him.

We have a good relationship and every time we meet it is a pleasure.

“At the end we will return to face the team we opened the tournament against. The opponent didn’t matter to me because Germany, like Italy,

appeared very good, each one with their own style of football. Italy is a dangerous rival that will make it difficult for us.”

The Real Madrid captain also insisted Spain are motivated solely by victory, even though a draw against Croatia in the final group game would have sent Italy home.

“In no moment did we speculate about drawing 2-2. Our professionalism is like this. We wanted to win against Croatia, we had a moment in which they pushed and we could have been put out. Our objective was to win and those that have arrived here are honourable.”

However, despite progressing to a historic third major final in a row, Spain have been criticised in many quarters for the lack of excitement in their play.

The world champions have not conceded in 420 minutes of play since An-

tonio Di Natale handed Italy the lead in their opening game and have even played the majority of the tournament without a natural striker, but Casillas says he always expected this competition to be even tougher as reigning European and world champions.

“We are the reference at a world level and we hope it lasts for a long time, but this is a cycle, another team will arrive and dominate the rest. We are the team to beat and they always talk about us.

The important thing is we are in the final and we are going to try and defend our title from four years ago.

“For the team and the players we are in a wonderful era of Spanish football.

We are in the final, it has not been as easy as we expected. After four years at the top of world football it is normal that the other teams face us in a different manner.”

48 July 1, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL

Sport

Wimbledon departure for giant-killer 45 Rosol

Maturing Balotelli puts side ahead of own glory 47

Kvitova confident, Serena survives

Accomplished: Kvitova (above) dropped just one game on her way to a 6-1 6-0 win over Lepchenko

DEFENDING champion Petra Kvitova sailed into the second week of Wimbledon courtesy of her most accomplished performance of the tournament so far.

The fourth seed dropped just one game on her way to a 6-1 6-0 win over Uzbekistan-born American Varvara Lepchenko, setting up a fourth-round meeting with Francesca Schiavone in the process.

That match will no doubt present a harder task for the Czech, but for now she can reflect on a hassle-free opening week that has seen her lose just 13 games in total. She appears to have got stronger as she has gone along too, having conceded eight games to first-round opponent Akgul Amanmuradova and four to Great Britain’s Elena Baltacha last time out.

The only time she looked in any trouble yesterday was when she conceded two

first-set break points, but she saved them with ease.

She won 53 points to her 53rd-ranked opponent’s 28 and now has a day to prepare for her meeting with Italian Schiavone, who secured her passage through with a similarly routine 6-0 6-4 win over Klara Zakopalova.

Kvitova said: “I have played her before at Roland Garros so I knew I would have to play my game and hold my serve. The score looks easy, but some of the rallies were really good.”

Nonetheless, the 22-year-old is refusing to draw comparisons with her run to the trophy 12 months ago.

“I think last year I played so well that it’s really tough to get on the same level this year ... It’s tough to look back and learn from last year, because it’s now a different tournament. After a year there are a lot of changes.”

Meanwhile, Serena Williams recovered from a sluggish start to beat China’s Zheng Jie 6-7 6-2 9-7 in a marathon Wimbledon third-round match yesterday.

The American four-times Wimbledon champion struggled to cope with the windy conditions and Zheng, seeded 25th, served consistently throughout the first set before winning it 7-5 in the tiebreak.

The sixth-seeded Williams finally broke Zheng, Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2008, in the fifth game of the second set and she did so again in the seventh on the way to levelling the match.

Williams, 30, recovered from 0-40 down to hold serve in the fourth game of the third set and she made the decisive break in the 15th game before converting her third match point to set up a last-16 clash with Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.

Europe aristocrats to clash in mouthwatering Kiev final Spain seek to continue domination against revitalised Italians

By Simon Evans

F

ootball’s aristocrats will compete for the continent’s crown today when Spain seek to extend their domination of Europe against a revitalised Italy who threaten to end their reign.

Between them Spain and Italy have produced 25 European champions at club level, but this will be the first time their national teams have met for the European Championship.

Few would question their places in the final have been earned.

“The winners will be deserving champions,” said Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas. “I think we’ve been the two most consistent teams at the tournament.”

Italy are four-times World Cup winners, most recently in 2006, while Spain are aiming for a unique achievement of three consecutive major titles following their wins at Euro 2008 and the World Cup two years ago.

While Vicente Del Bosque’s success with Spain has been

Spain so often control the midfield thanks to the majestic Xabi Alonso (above) and Xavi, but they will be up against one of the masters in the centre of the park in Italy’s Andrea Pirlo (top right) built on a water-tight defence and impressive possession football, Italy have reached the final thanks to positive, dynamic play and a potent attack led by the temperamental talent of Mario Balotelli which saw them upset Germany in the semi-finals.

Spain’s short passing ‘Tiki Taka’ method has brought remarkable results - no European team since West Germany in the early 1970’s have reached the final of three major tournaments in a row. But the ‘Spanish era’ will in many ways be defined by how they cope with a surprisingly exciting Italian team today.

An unprecedented third title,

with powerhouses Germany and the Netherlands having already been dispatched in finals, would secure Spain’s place among the greatest teams of all time.

But a defeat, at the end of a tournament in which they have rarely managed to raise the pulses of fans, would lead to a more modest evaluation of La Roja’s place in the game’s hierarchy.

The teams were to arrive in the Ukrainian capital in differing moods. While Spain scraped into the final via a penalty shootout win over Portugal after they were held to a 0-0 draw after extra-time, Italy are on a high after their sur-

prise 2-1 victory over a highlyfancied Germany.

Following their European and World Cup successes, Spain have more experience at this level and more quality on paper, but they have looked a little jaded and Del Bosque acknowledged fatigue was an issue.

“The players are tired. We’re at breaking point. But they are used to this all season and I hope they get in shape for the final,” he said.

After an energetic display against Germany, the Italy have some recovery of their own to do, with one day fewer rest than Spain, but their mood is one of exhilaration

after Balotelli’s double earned them a place in the final that few predicted.

The Italians came into the tournament with few expectations after their dreadful early exit from the World Cup in South Africa and some patchy pre-tournament displays. But coach Cesare Prandelli has managed to do what every national team coach hopes for develop a club team spirit.

The two teams met in the group stage with the game ending 1-1 after Fabregas cancelled out Antonio Di Natale’s opener.

“We haven’t to be afraid of them,” said Prandelli, noting his team was stronger than

they were for the opener in Gdansk. “We have improved, both physically and psychologically”.

While Spain’s superb passing ability frequently leads to games where they dominate possession, Portugal showed in the semi-final that hard pressing can knock them off their rhythm.

Italy did exactly that against Germany and are unlikely to sit back and let the Spaniards dictate the tempo.

The final also provides a contrast in tactical approaches with Spain frequently playing without a recognised striker, while Italy have a classic centre-forward in the form of Balotelli supported by the impish Antonio Cassano.

With poacher Di Natale likely to start on the bench, the Azzurri have plenty of firepower against a team that have not conceded a goal in their last nine knockout stage games in the World Cup and European Championship.

Allied to that stingy defence, Spain so often control the midfield thanks to the majestic Xabi Alonso and Xavi, but they will be up against one of the masters in the centre of the park in Italy’s Andrea Pirlo.

“We have to try neutralise their midfield as Pirlo is the player that always takes control of the match,” said Fabregas.

Italy last won the European Championship in 1968 while Spain are looking for their third Euro title, following their first success in 1964, to add to their solitary World Cup.